Star Fox: The Saurian Adventure: The Continuation
by x-game
Summary: After reading ninjafoxshadow's fan fiction re-writing of Star Fox Adventures, and noticing how long it has been since the last time it was updated, I took it upon myself to finish what he started. If you haven't read ninjafoxshadow's Star Fox: The Saurian Adventure, read all sixteen chapters of that fan fiction, and then come back.
1. Chapter 17

Star Fox: The Saurian Adventure

Chapter 17

As soon as the elevator dropped to the lower reaches of the temple, the trio set off into the tunnels ahead. As they walked into that tunnel, the heat started to intensify and the area became more volcanic. Krystal took off Fox's vest and started carrying it in her hand to stave off the exhausting heat. Two flaming bats started charging at the two vulpines, but they fended them off with their ice blasts, killing the bats instantly, before walking into the next room with Tricky in tow.

The next room was a series of narrow bridges across a lava pit. Krystal winced in terror as she hated lava pits. The one she nearly got killed in back at the Darkice mines was bad enough. Fox couldn't agree more.

Fox's communications device started beeping. Fox answered it. "You called, Peppy?"

Peppy was on the other line giving out his report of the area, "Hi, Fox. I've been studying the ancient records of this planet, and you might be interested to hear this: This temple has been build on a force point. A point where pure magical energy is forced up from within the core of the planet. This energy is so powerful that it continually attempts to break the planet apart. To stop this, the ancient Krazoa placed two SpellStones inside the temple to absorb the energy. When General Scales removed the stones, the planet began to fall apart. By returning the SpellStones back to the temple, you'll bring the planet together once more. Peppy out."

After the transmission ended, Fox turned to Krystal saying, "All right. Let's…" but then he noticed a very pensive look on Krystal's face. Something seemed to be going on in her mind. "Krystal?"

Krystal snapped out of her trance and shook her head to focus on Fox. "Oh. Sorry, Fox, but I was just lost in thought for a moment. I'll be okay."

"Good." Fox walked on the left walkway leading to the platform in the center of the room, with Krystal and Tricky walking on the right. Fortunately for the three of them, the walkway was thick enough so they didn't have to worry about falling to their deaths. When they got to the end of the walkway, they stood at a ring-like platform and were right in front of another terminal that required the SpellStone to access it. Fox placed the SpellStone at that terminal which apparently unlocked a seal on a door similar to the one they used to get into the room in the first place. The trio turned back and went back to the other side of the bridge back to solid ground. There was a flame to their right blocking their access to the door they just unlocked, but Krystal quickly put it out with her staff's Ice Blast. Aware that Krystal seemed to know the ins and outs of the place, Fox and Tricky decided to let her take the lead. They continued on through the corridor in the next room. Not only were there two lava pits that thankfully could be avoided, but the pits started spewing out streams of fire. As the trio walked past the pits, the sound of the fire caused Krystal to hastily duck, but then she started panicking when she noticed that she accidentally set Fox's vest on fire. She quickly threw it at a wall that wasn't next to a lava pit, then quickly doused the flame with her Ice Blast. Unfortunately for her, part of the vest was burned, bumming her out. They continued on at the end of the corridor to a room with a suspicious-looking platform in the center. After all three of them stepped onto it, the platform rose up, and as it did, Krystal looked at Fox's vest with a glum look. She liked that vest and it was a very thoughtful gift from Fox to her, Seeing it ruined like that really bummed her out. Fox placed her hand on her shoulder. "It's all right. When this is over, I'll buy you a new one."

The platform took the trio to a walkway leading to the next room. However, Krystal took a quick glance at the side of the room and noticed something peculiar. "Fox? I think that ladder leads to…"

"Maybe later, Krystal. For now, we've got a SpellStone to return." They walked down the corridor leading to a door they need to go through to return the SpellStone. But there was one major problem…

"The door's locked. What's going on here!?" Fox tried pounding on the door several times but to no avail. In fact, his hands started hurting after a while.

Krystal giggled. "Maybe going up that ladder won't seem like such such a bad idea now."

"All right, lead the way." The group went backwards and back to the ladder that Krystal mentioned earlier. Upon further observations, they found out that there was actually a ladder on each side. Fox climbed the ladder on one side with Krystal climbing the one on the other. and when they made it to the top, they found four red flames on Krazoa statues just like the ones they put out when they first acquired the Ice Blast. Each respective side of the room had two flames, and Fox and Krystal used their Ice Blasts to put out the flames on their respective sides of the room, causing the seal on the door to break and the door to unlock. Fox and Krystal turned back and went down the ladders and they, along with Tricky, walked through the corridor again and into the next room.

In the next room, there were a hole in two of the walls in the room, spewing out fire. Seemed easy to avoid, but then three SharpClaws appeared out of thin air, yet again, to ambush our heroes. Fox managed to beat the smaller one with a jab to the stomach and an uppercut to the jaw, but that left him and Krystal to deal with the two shielded larger SharpClaw soldiers. After how effective the Fire Blasts were against these brutes, Fox and Krystal wondered how effective the Ice Blasts would be. They quickly unleashed their icy power upon the two SharpClaws, barely phazing them at first, but after a few seconds, the SharpClaw warriors' bodies were frozen solid, and the two vulpine warriors finished each of them off in a single swing, shattering their bodies to pieces. The Life Force Barrier disappeared and our heroes were able to proceed to the next room.

The group noticed they had to get across a series of platforms with a few of the platforms moving and the stationary platforms being in between dragon-like statues that shot out flames every few seconds. Tricky whimpered at how impossible it seemed to cross it, especially for him, but Krystal patted on his shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll find a way to get you across. Right, Fox?" But when she looked back up, Fox wasn't there. "Fox?"

Then she looked forward and saw Fox leaping across the platforms. As soon as the flamethrowers stopped, the moving platform was just moving near him, so he quickly leaped onto it. It was only on the moving platforms where he was able to have any repose, though, because as soon as he landed on one of the still platforms, he had to jump over to the next platform fast or he'd be roasted dog meat. As soon as he made it across the lava, he surveyed the room. Krystal called to him. "Did you find anything to help Tricky across, Fox?"

Fox turned back to respond. "I'm still loo…" but then he glanced at the moving platforms again. He noticed switches attached to them and then activated his Fire Blaster and shot at the switch on the platform. As soon as the platform reached the center of the pit, it stopped moving. As soon as he leaped unto the platform that used to move, he aimed his staff at the switch on the other moving platform, and fired at it. That platform also locked into position, and as soon as it did, he lept back to the side of the pit opposite the one Krystal and Tricky were still on. "All right! It's all clear!" Tricky nervously hopped across to the next platform after the flamethrowers stopped. He trembled as she saw the flamethrowers blazing across the next platform, which meant that Tricky would have to make it quick if he didn't want to get fried. As soon as the flamethrowers stopped, Tricky hopped two platforms across very quickly so that he wouldn't burn, with Krystal jumping to the first formerly moving platform. As soon as Tricky crossed over to the side Fox was at, Krystal followed him, timing her jumps to avoid the flamethrowers as well. Fox spotted a flame grate and asked Tricky to breath fire into it. The Earthwalker prince did so, unlocking the door to the next area.

The trio walked through a corridor leading to a large circular room of metal walkways hanging above another lava pit. As soon as they walked in, a bunch of angry bats started attacking them. Fox quickly swatted one down with his staff but another lept onto his back and started biting into the back of his head until Krystal grabbed the bat's wings and ripped them off herself. While she did so, however, another bat latched onto her back and attempted to sink its fangs into her shoulder, but only broke its fangs in the process due to her wearing gold shoulder pads. She quickly grabbed the bat's head and snapped its neck and used her staff to swat down another bat. After all of the bats died, Fox, Krystal, and Tricky walked along the metallic walkways to a glowing circle in the center of the room. The three were instantly teleported to a large room with a huge stone monument in the center with four openings on each of its four sides, shaped like the SpellStone. "Well, this is it," Fox said to his two partners. This must be where we need to put the SpellStone." He put the SpellStone back into the large stone monument and a beam of light emanated from the monument and soared to the ceiling. The trio stared at the light in awe. Then the three of them disappeared from the room.

Back at the entrance to the Volcano Force Point Temple, Fox, Krystal, and Tricky instantly reappeared. Krystal remarked, "Well that's convenient, isn't it. I would hate to trudge all the way back through the temple just to exit it."

Fox shrugged. "Yeah, me too. Too bad we'll have to go back there a second time."

"Well, it shouldn't be too bad for us until then. Shall we head out?"

Fox nodded. He, Krystal, and Tricky left the temple back into the Moon Mountain Pass. Krystal looked bummed out that the vest Fox gave her had most of one of its halves completely charred. She had so much sentimental attachment to that vest and thought it was so thoughtful of Fox to simply hand it over to her. But Fox did promise her another one when the mission was done. Until then, Krystal planned on putting it back into the cockpit of Fox's Arwing. It broke her heart that such a special gift to her would get ruined so quickly.

As the trio started walking through the Moon Mountain Pass, Krystal felt she needed to tell Fox something important. "Fox? I don't think finding the SpellStones is all we need to do to save Sauria. We also need..."

But then, suddenly, a figure as tall as a 6-story apartment building appeared before the group. Its body looked like a long red cloak and its face looked like that of the Krazoa Spirit that Krystal freed earlier… because it _was_ the Krazoa spirit she freed earlier. Prince Tricky looked up at it in awe. "A Krazoa!"

The Spirit spoke. "It's a pleasure to see you again, last child of Cerinia. My gratitude is boundless."

Krystal knelt in sentiment. "I feel honored to see you again, your excellency."

"And I see you brought a friend with you this time. Does he wish to accept our test?"

Fox felt kind of baffled. "What is it talking about? What test?"

Krystal filled Fox in. "Krazoa Spirits put their chosen ones through tests before you could free them. I was the one who passed his test, releasing him. Before we met, I received a distress signal from Krazoa Palace. When I got there, the Earthwalker warriors sent to guard the Palace were attacked. They told me that the spirits were dying. And that in order to save them, I needed to release them so that they could help to restore the planet."

"Indeed. You two must collect the remaining Krazoa Spirits for only the pure of heart can enter our shrines."

Krystal felt she had to tell Fox what was on her mind back at the Volcano Force Point Temple. "Fox, remember what Peppy said back at the Volcano Force Point Temple? The spirits placed the stones there to absorb the destructive energy flowing from the planet's core. However, I suspect that unless we release all the Krazoa spirits, the SpellStones will be useless without their power."

Fox understood what she meant by that. "All right. Restore the stones and the spirits. Sounds simple enough."

The spirit continued. "Find the remaining five Krazoa Shrines. Complete the tests within each, and bring the spirits to Krazoa Palace."

Tricky remembered something important. "The WarpStone can get you there!"

"If you don't return all the Spirits, the planet will die. And the tragedy will repeat itself. Defeat the creature to collect a MoonSeed." A large stone door opened before them. The spirit then disappeared.

Krystal looked downward, clenching her fist. Fox wondered what the spirit meant by "the tragedy," but a quick look at Krystal's facial expressions made him suspect that she actually knew. "The tragedy… Did he mean…"

Tears started to drip from Krystal's eyes. "Yes…"

"I'm sorry of what he said inconvenienced you."

"Convenience means nothing to me. Especially not when lives are at stake." Krystal headed down towards the door that the Krazoa Spirit just opened as Fox and Tricky followed her.

Fox smiled in admiration. "Spoken like a true warrior."

 _ **Author's Notes**_

 _ **I have been reading ninjafoxshadow's**_ ** _fan fiction of Star Fox: The Saurian Adventures and I liked it. The fact that it was a version of Star Fox Adventures where Krystal doesn't get captured and has to wait for Fox to rescue her? Not only that, but in this version, Krystal travels with Fox and battles at his side! Sign me up! Not only does it make Krystal into an incredibly strong and independent woman, but the relationship between her and Fox develops so believably in this fanfic, making their interaction in Star Fox Assault more believable. Unluckily for the fans of the fanfic, myself included, he stopped making chapters for the fanfic since 2009, so I decided to make a fan fiction that picked up where his left off. I especially enjoyed re-writing the scene with Fox meeting the Krazoa Spirit to accommodate not only Krystal's significantly more active role in the fan fiction, but also her more in-depth backstory, which was briefly mentioned in the manual and that's it._**


	2. Chapter 18

As the trio headed towards the cave that the Krazoa Spirit just opened, a weird, toad-like monster with arms resembling flowers popped out of a crater in the ground. The creature threw an energy projectile at Prince Tricky. Upon the launching of the projectile, Krystal grabbed Tricky, shouting "Watch out!" and jumping out of the way. Fox turned around and immediately drew his staff and started smacking the creature over and over again, but to no avail. He event tried elaborate combos and strikes with large amounts of energy, but nothing even phased the monster. Every time he struck the beast, blue energy appeared to glow around it as it if had a barrier protecting it. Krystal became afraid that Fox wouldn't stand a chance against this creature. "Fox, don't do it!" But Fox didn't listen. He tried seeing if the staff's powers could work on the beast. He kept on firing Fire Blasts at the beast, but no matter how many bolts he fired at it, the monster didn't even flinch. He tried freezing the monster with his Ice Blast, but again, it didn't even phase it. Krystal grabbed Fox by the arm and dashed into the cave that the Krazoa Spirit opened, dragging Fox with her, with Tricky following after them.

* * *

Fox obviously felt caught off-guard by Krystal grabbing him the way she did. "What are you doing!? The Spirit said we should kill that thing to get a MoonSeed!"

"That 'thing' happens to be a Kalda Chom! None of the attacks we have so far can harm it!"

"It has to have some kind of weak point! Maybe it's vulnerable from behind! Maybe I should distract it from the front while you deliver the final blow while its back is turned to you!"

"It popped out of the ground as soon as you got close to it! That means it has the ability to sense movement around it. And I believe that such an ability could protect it from sneak attacks. The only thing that can harm it is a special power for our staffs that we don't even have yet!" Krystal yelled. Fox calmed himself and after a few seconds, Krystal continued. "The Krazoa Spirit opened this tunnel for a reason. Maybe we could find that power in this tunnel. I know you're anxious, but trust me."

"It's all right. I trust you." The trio continued down the tunnel and ended up in a circular room with a peculiar-looking rock at the center. They kicked the stone out of the way and it revealed a hole with green light emanating from it causing the vulpines' staffs to glow and vibrate. Fox and Krystal knew what that meant, so they dropped through the hole, one after the other, just like last time. Then they walked down the narrow hallway just like the one that led to their previous upgrade to their staffs, and came across yet another pedestal surrounded by a pool of water. Fox and Krystal swam for a moment in that pool of water and it felt so nice and refreshing to them. After enduring the smoldering heat of the Volcano Force Point Temple, Fox and Krystal felt major relief to cool their bodies off in the waters of an underground cavern, feeling awash from all the sweat they have been drenched in back in the temple, and even splashing around with each other like two kids in a swimming pool. After they were done swimming around, they approached the pedestal, wondering what power they would obtain from it this time. The two of them stood on the pedestal and raised their staffs to the ceiling, and the large stalactite above the pedestal shot lightning bolts into the ends of the two staffs. "So what did we get this time?"

"I believe it's Ground Quake. Pretty effective in stunning targets before moving in for the kill. And remember that Kalda Chop you were fighting earlier? Apparently we need to stun it before we could hurt it, so..."

"Well, then let's test it out when we leave the cave, shall we?"

Krystal nodded. They headed back out to the entrance of the altar and floated back up to the cave. As they walked out of the tunnel, Foxed asked Krystal, "Well, Krystal, ladies first."

Krystal laughed. "Really? You were the one who picked that fight with the Kalda Chom in the first place. You should go first."

"Hope you're not saying that so you could show a stronger Ground Quake when it becomes your turn. You can go first."

"Are you always scared of being overshadowed by everyone else, Fox?" Krystal grinned impishly.

"What!? Of course not!"

"Then you can go first."

Fox groaned. "All right, let's settle this with a bout of rock, paper, scissors."

Krystal looked confused. "What's rock paper scissors?"

"It's a game that people use to settle arguments like this one. In it, people move their hands in certain formations to indicate a rock, a sheet of paper, and a pair of scissors."

"What are scissors? Are they some kind of…"

"They are basically pairs of short blades that have a handle designed so that you could open and close the blades at any given time, allowing them to cut paper. Which leads us into how rock paper scissors works. The rock, the paper, and the scissors are three elements in a triangle where one element beats one of the other two but loses to the third one. A pair of scissors can cut a sheet of paper, a rock can break a pair of scissors, and a sheet of paper can be wrapped around a rock. So scissors beats paper, paper beats rock, and rock beats scissors." Fox then formed his hand in the ways he described, "An open palm represents paper, a closed fist represents rock, and and holding your first two fingers forward represents scissors. You following me."

"All right, I'm following you quite well. Shall we begin?"

"Yep. And try not to cheat by reading my mind, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Fox." She held out her hand in an open palm while he held his out in a closed fist. "Looks like I win, Fox."

Fox decided to go along with it. He felt it was pointless to argue with Krystal on whether or not she read his mind.

After the two foxes left the cave, Fox went right up to the Kalda Chom he challenged earlier, and raised his staff into the air, and slammed the blunt edge into the ground. The ground shook beneath his feet and the Kalda Chom ended up spinning around in a dumbfounded manner. When it did spin around, Fox noticed a purple spot on its back. He rammed the head of his staff into that spot, and the beast howled in pain. The creature attempted to attack Fox with its arms, but he dodged it and unleashed another Ground Quake. The vibration spun the monster around again, and Fox hit the purple spot on its back again, killing it. After the monster died, Fox picked up the MoonSeed that appeared after the beast's corpse vanished. He wondered about it, then he eyed a small patch of grass in front of a crack in a nearby wall. A reddish glow formed around Fox pondered what it could possibly mean. Tricky called out, "Hey! I have an idea!" Fox took a few steps back while Tricky stepped towards the glowing seed and breathed fire on it. The seed started sprouting a vine that snaked its way along the crack in the cliffside wall. Fox climbed up the vine first with Krystal following him soon afterwards, because "ladies first" doesn't seem all that chivalrous in this instance, and when they got to the top of the cliff, started traversing down the slope. He thought he could liven things up with some small talk. "You know, Krystal, I did notice that Kalda Chom had its weak spot on its back. Maybe that strategy I suggested earlier might work on it after all."

"I already told you, it can sense movement around it. If I were to charge after it while its back is turned to you, it'll turn around before I could strike it."

"Well, hey, you'll never know until you try."

"Let's do that on the third Kalda Chom we come across. Don't forget, on the second, it'll be my turn to test out the Ground Quake."

After the trio walked a little further, even walking below a stone arc. After a while, another Kalda Chom sprouted out of the ground, ready to attack.

Fox smirked. "Well, speak of the devil. All right, Krystal, you ready?"

Krystal nodded. She jumped in the air towards the Kalda Chom and her staff glowed an intense blue as she briefly floated in the air. She slammed the blunt end of her staff against the ground, stunning the Kalda Chom, and as soon as the beast turned its back was turned to her in its stupor, stabbed the purple spot on its back with the head of her staff. The strike caused the creature to re-focus on her and she backflipped to dodge its projectiles, and unleashed another Ground Quake. After she stabbed the spot on its back again, the Kalda Chom died. Krystal picked up the MoonSeed that appeared after its corpse vanished and planted it next to a nearby cliff wall. "All right, Tricky, you know what to do." As Tricky walked towards the seed, Krystal winked at Fox saying, "Well, Fox, I suppose you won't have to worry about being shown up after all."

Fox chuckled. "Well, look on the bright side. Neither will you."

"Men are always so competitive, aren't they."

After Tricky set the seed on fire, the trio climbed the vine that sprouted from it. When they reached the top of the cliff, they jumped to a nearby cliff with a third Kalda Chom and a Bomb Spore. Fox and Krystal felt it was a good time to test their idea of ganging up on the Kalda Chom and see if it would work, as neither of them wanted to risk hurting each other by using Ground Quake to detonate the Bomb Spore by accident. Fox distracted it and kept its attention as he strafed to the side opposite the gap he jumped across. As soon as Krystal jumped across the same gap, and prepared to strike at the Kalda Chom's weak spot, the beast turned to face her, just in time to deflect her blow. But while the Kalda Chom turned its attention to Krystal, Fox struck at the beast's back the moment it was turned to him. Angered, the Kalda Chom turned towards Fox, giving Krystal the opportunity to land the killing blow. As soon as the purple spot on the creature's back was in her sight, she thrusted the head of her staff directly into it, killing the beast. After Fox picked up the MoonSeed, the trio leaped across another gap leading to another cliffside. They spotted a trail leading to a nearby cave and headed through the cave. When they reached inside the cave, they came across yet another Kalda Chom. Krystal unleashed yet another Ground Quake, then attacked the spot on the creature's back while it was in its stunned state, then Fox did the same thing to it afterwards. With the beast out of the way, Fox planted a Bomb Spore, then after the group stepped back, he used his Fire Blast to blow it up, demolishing the cracked wall, and then they continued on through. They made it outside and continued along the path. After another Kalda Chom popped up out of the ground, Fox stunned it with a Ground Quake, stunning it. While the creature was stunned, Krystal rushed to the other side before Fox attacked its weak spot. When the creature turned to retaliate on Fox, Krystal stabbed the monster in the back, and then picked up the MoonSeed that appeared after the beast's corpse vanished. Fox and Krystal felt that fighting Kalda Choms was getting tiresome and repetitive, so they continued on their path.

As they continued through the Mountain Pass, the group notices something suspicious in the sky. The sky turned red as a red burning rock was flying across it. Fox exclaimed, "What the!?"

Tricky shouted "Look out!" He, Fox and Krystal hit down on the ground as the meteor crashed. They felt the earth tremble as they heard the sound of the impact on the ground. After the impact was over, the group rose up and kept on going.

As the group was about to head out further in the Moon Mountain Pass, Fox noticed a slow-moving dinosaur with a large, heavy shell on its back. Fox walked up to it. "Hey! We're looking for a Krazoa shrine! You know where…"

Krystal gasped and cried, "Don't do it, Fox! He isn't friendly!"

But as soon as the creature took a glance at Fox, it lashed out at him by spitting a fireball at him. Fox quickly raised his staff and formed a magic barrier around him, causing the fireball to bounce harmlessly away. "Take it easy! I don't want to fight you!" But the creature didn't listen. It spat another fireball at Fox, and he just defended himself with the barrier again. Fox became convinced that the creature won't listen to reason, so he charged at the creature and attacked it. Krystal, having the ability to sense thought patterns and enemy weakness was able to tell immediately that doing so would be too dangerous to even consider. She shouted, "No! Don't do it!"

But it was too late. The creature retreated into its shell, and by the time Fox's staff hit the shell, his body was on fire. Then it quickly flipped its body around, smacking Fox with its tail, knocking him against the wall and knocking his staff out of his hand. Krystal gasped in horror at the pain the man she loved was in. Then she angrily drew her staff and charged at the beast. Fox struggled to get up, but the creature threw another fireball at the wall behind him, knocking him away. He screamed in pain as he got thrown by the impact of the fireball. The creature prepared to finish him off but Fox saw an icy wind blow all over him. The creature was instantly frozen solid. Fox could barely see what was in front of him, but all of a sudden, he saw a fuzzy image of what appeared to be Krystal, smashing the now frozen creature in a fit of rage. He could barely keep his eyes open but could vaguely see Krystal approaching him to see if he was okay. He passed out, faintly hearing Krystal calling his name several times, showing more distress and worry each and every time.

* * *

Krystal started to burst into tears at the pain the man she loved was in. She didn't want to lose him. The man who helped her on her journey, the man who saved her life at the DarkIce Mines, the man who helped her confront the horrors of her past, the thought that he would be taken from her right then and there was too much for her to bear. She tried reading his mind to see if he's still alive, as well as checking for a pulse. She was able to detect thought patterns racing through his mind. She felt his pulse functioning. And upon observation, she noticed him breathing. She and Prince Tricky felt sighs of relief upon learning that Fox was alive. She picked up one of the frozen pieces of the shelled dinosaur's dead body and held it to the burns on Fox's right arm. After a few seconds, she could tell that Fox was feeling a relief from the pain he was in. He moaned, "Krystal… Is that you…"

Krystal was relieved that Fox was alive and recovering but angry that he charged into battle with no regard for her warnings. But right now, she felt like expressing the latter emotion. "Fox, you idiot… Why didn't you listen to me? Why didn't you heed my warnings? Why did you have to be so reckless!?"

"I'm sorry. But how was I…"

"Sorry? Sorry!? You could have died fighting that FireCrawler! You should have been patient and listened to my advice before doing anything!" She started holding the chunk of ice to the burns on Fox's left arm. "I'd smack you in the face for your carelessness, but that would only cause you further pain."

Fox moaned due to the amount of pain he was in, "I didn't think that creature would be such a dangerous foe. It didn't seem all that hostile."

Krystal asked, "Could you please take off your shirt, Fox? I need to attend to the burns on your chest."

Fox blushed. He took off his shirt though it literally hurt him to do so, due to his burn scars. "I hope this is not an excuse to get me to strip down for you, Krystal."

Krystal had the facial expression of a mother chastising an obstinate child. "Sauria needs you, Fox! And right now, you're in no condition to fight!" She started rubbing the ice against the burns on Fox's chest. "I'm sorry, but getting you to disrobe yourself is necessary for the treatment you need. So you're going to have to trust me."

Fox felt there was no arguing against Krystal's words. "Yes, ma'am."

Krystal then gave Fox a flirtatious, impish smile. "Though, I will admit, the idea of seeing the entirety of your well-toned body is appealing."

Fox blushed for a moment, and then remembered Krystal seeing him without his shirt while they were bathing after coming back from the DarkIce Mines. He let out a light chuckle.

Krystal said, "Don't be too embarrassed. I bet you'd love to see the entirety of my body too."

"I think I'm seeing a good amount of it as is."

Krystal took his word for it, considering just how revealing her clothing is. She continued, "The SharpClaw are not the only hostile tribe here on Sauria. The FireCrawlers are a group of fearsome beings that don't take kindly to other beings in their presence, and would attack anyone for approaching them. We are all advised to stay away from FireCrawlers because their flame attacks are very devastating." She planted a MoonSeed a few feet away from the group. She asked Tricky, "Tricky, do you mind breathing fire on this seed?"

Tricky nodded and breathed fire on the MoonSeed. The plant grew and expanded exponentially and then fell over. Krystal walked up to the plant, plucked out several of the leaves from it, and then soaked it by rubbing the ice against it. The leave grew slightly larger and turned pink. Krystal then wrapped the leaf around a side of Fox's right arm. After soaking another leaf, she placed it on the other side of his right arm.

Fox seemed a little confused so Krystal decided to fill him in by saying, "The leaves from the MoonVines have healing capabilities. When soaked, MoonVine leaves can be helpful in healing burns. So, I decided to use them to help you recover. By the time the leaves dry up, your burns will be healed. It will only last you for a couple of minutes."

Fox sighed, "Thanks, Krystal. You know, for someone who hasn't been on Sauria for very long, you know a lot about the herbology on this planet."

"I've had practice with the natives." Krystal replied as she put a soaked MoonVine leaf onto Fox's left arm. Krystal then knelt forward taking off Fox's boots. She then asked Prince Tricky, "Tricky, would you mind turning around for a moment?" Tricky turned away and closed his eyes. Krystal then took off Fox's belt and slowly removed his pants so that she could tend to the burn scars on them. Fox noticed that it didn't bother Krystal in the slightest, indicating to him that she was just as allured by his physical attractiveness as he was to hers. He also felt a powerfully warm and passionate sensation well up inside of him, rendering him blushing in embarrassment. One downward glance later, and he knew exactly why Krystal asked Prince Tricky to look away. She leaned Fox's body forward so she could rub the ice on his back, and after doing so for at least twenty seconds, soaked more of the MoonVine leaves and placed them on his back. She didn't have to worry about the leaves falling off his back because they would stick to his body until the burns were healed. She used the ice to soak Fox's burns on his chest again, thinking they might have dried up by now, then soaked more leaves and placed them on his chest. Krystal noticed that the ice in her hand was starting to melt, so she picked up one of the other shards from the FireCrawler's dead body. When she came back to Fox, she asked him to lift his leg up for a moment. And when he did, he had some important questions for her.

"So, what are these other hostile tribes you mentioned?"

As Krystal rubbed the ice against the underside of Fox's right leg, she replied, In addition to the FireCrawlers I mentioned, there is also the LightFoot tribe. They don't think ill of the other tribes and have no intention of starting a war or invading a village, but they don't take kindly to others imposing on their territory." Krystal started soaking the leaves from the MoonVine. "The can be negotiated with, and reasoned with, but it is far more advisable to keep a wide distance from them." She placed one leaf on the underside of Fox's thigh before soaking another one.

"That's a scary thought." Fox replied. "Good thing your telepathy could help us know if any might be nearby. I'd hate to get on their bad side."

Krystal finished putting another leaf on the underside of Fox's calf, then started rubbing the ice on the top of Fox's right leg. "There's also the ShadowHunters, vicious creatures with quick reflexes and sharp teeth. They have a devastating bite and can run very quickly, making it hard to escape from them. They are incredibly vicious predators and even worse, they are quite sadistic." She started soaking leaves before putting them on Fox's leg.

"Have you ever battled ShadowHunters before, Krystal?"

"Yes I have. When I… you mind lifting up your left leg for a moment, Fox?" Fox did exactly that. Then Krystal started tending to the burns below his leg. "...first came to Sauria, the ThornTails were being attacked by ShadowHunters. Intolerant of their malice and sadism, I charged in slaughtered the ShadowHunters like cattle. But to say that it was easy would be a lie. One ShadowHunter was already incredibly formidable an opponent, but fighting a whole swarm of them definitely took a lot of determination and wit. Thankfully, I excel in both, but there were times when I feared I wouldn't make it." She started rubbing the ice against Fox's left leg.

All of a sudden, though, the leaves on Fox's arms started falling off. The burns on them were gone. "Wow! Thanks, Krystal! You'd make a great healer."

Krystal noticed that the leaves were working already. "You're welcome, Fox. I'm glad I could help." But then Krystal started to look pretty glum. "Too bad I wasn't able to help… them." She began soaking more leaves and putting them on Fox's leg.

"Them?"

"I didn't succeed in saving the entire ThornTail population from that ShadowHunter attack. Some of them already died gruesomely before I could save them, and a few of the ones that did survive were injured too severely for me to do anything to help them." As soon as she was done bandaging Fox's left leg, she sat next to him. "If someone gets injured too drastically, my healing powers can't work. If I try too hard to heal someone severely injured, too much of my energy would be used up. And the burns on your body would have used up too much of my energy."

"Well then it's a good thing you were taught about the planet's herbology, isn't it?" Fox replied as the leaves started falling off his left arm.

"Indeed it is. But the worst tribe out there, apart from the SharpClaw themselves, is the RedEye. They are just like the ShadowHunters except they are larger and more durable. In fact my Staff is pretty much useless against them." Fox's jaw dropped on horror at what Krystal just said until she continued with a detail that reassured him: "That is, I should say, unless I hit a few of its weak points. The scales on the creature's bodies couldn't be hurt with regular staff strikes, but it does have a weak point that can be exploited, and if I strike at it there, I could actually hurt the beast. Though, I will admit, throwing a Fuel Cell at them would work too."

"So, what are the RedEye's weaknesses?"

"I'll tell you when you face them. Anyway, the EarthWalkers built the Walled City specifically to imprison the ShadowHunters and RedEyes so as to keep them from terrorizing the other tribes. A large number of them have been trapped there for years, but a few of each tribe still roam the wildlands. And while I have fearlessly battled several of them, I hope to avoid conflict with them as much as possible, unless they're attacking another tribe."

She and Fox were silent for a moment. Krystal smiled for a bit. "You know, Moon Mountain Pass sure is beautiful."

"It is. But fighting the Kalda Choms that lurk here gets annoyingly repetitive."

"Indeed it does. But the scenery here makes me think I'm walking under a full moon. Makes me feel like I'm bathing in the moonlight..."

"You're sounding awfully romantic."

"True, but 'romantic' might be an appropriate word for a moment such as this. Two warriors resting after a long battle in a place with such beautiful scenery, all the while showing each other their bodies and the beauty they possess..."

Fox blushed upon hearing her say that, thinking "And I thought I was horny!" only to blush even more upon noticing that same sensation from earlier welling up again. Krystal giggled. She then spotted the leaves around Fox's legs crumbling. His burns were completely healed. "Well, Fox, now that you're right as rain again, how about you put your clothes back on and then we can head out."

Fox chuckled slightly. Then he got up again, and put his pants and boots back on, followed by his belt, then his shirt. As soon as he finished getting dressed, Krystal picked up the silver staff with the red jewel. "You dropped this."

"Thanks, Krystal." Fox put the silver staff in his backpack. He focused on Tricky saying, "All right, Tricky, let's keep moving." The trio continued through the pass.

* * *

Author's Notes: Yes, I know how the staff upgrade pedestals worked in ninjafoxshadow's original fanfiction, but here, I decided to re-work them to work the way they did in the original video game, and that by doing so, Fox and Krystal no longer have to take turns getting their staff upgrades. They can now get theirs simultaneously. Also, I noticed my readers have been liking the part towards the end of this chapter where, Fox and Krystal are having a very heartfelt. (and sexy) moment together. And they will have more of those in the future. Stay tuned.


	3. Chapter 19

Fox, Krystal, and Tricky advanced a little further into the Moon Mountain Pass, only to have their path blocked off by the meteor that crashed earlier after they walked passed six small craters that shot out steam into the air. Fox was clearly very frustrated by the inability to advance forward. "Well this stinks. How are we supposed to get to the Krazoa shrine with this dumb thing blocking the way?"

"I suppose you were using more of those figurative expressions your culture likes to use, weren't you? Anyway, I think those steam vents may have something to do with it. Take a look."

Fox, Krystal, and Tricky examined the steam vents and saw that each one shot out steam at quite a bit of force. There were six steam vents in total, with one being close to the meteor, two more only slightly further away from it, at least a foot and a half, spread out at least five feet from each other a few feet from the steam vent closest to the meteor, two more steam vents that were further from the meteor that were closer to each other, and one more steam vent in the center. The trio thought that maybe they should find something that would allow them to use that to their advantage to lift up the boulder. Krystal announced, "I think that any meteor fragments floating around this area may come in handy in clearing this boulder from our path."

Fox asked, "You sure pushing or punching the meteor out of the way wouldn't work?"

Krystal, with a "you're-missing-the-point" kind of tone and expression replied, "Of course, I'm sure because doing anything of the sort would do nothing more than waste time and energy."

"How about climbing up on the rock and moving above it?"

"See previous answer. Besides, if we succeed, how are we going to get Tricky across it?"

"He could piggyback on one of us."

"That would make you even heavier."

"All right then. Let's split up. Krystal, I suggest you look for anything useful on the left side of the valley while Tricky and I search the right."

Krystal agreed. " All right, let's move out!"

Fox and Tricky both replied simultaneously, "Yes, ma'am!"

As Fox and Tricky headed over to the right side of the wide area where the meteor crashed. There, much to Fox's chagrin, yet another Kalda Chom popped up again. Just like when he fought the other ones, Fox hit it with a Ground Quake, stabbed the purple spot on the creature's back, then repeated the whole process again, killing it. Finishing off the beast was easy, but groan-inducingly tiresome. Fox picked up the resulting MoonSeed in case he might need it later, but then he noticed a suspicious patch of dirt nearby. He asked Prince Tricky, "Tricky, you mind digging here?" Tricky obliged and dug the suspicious patch of earth that Fox specified. While he waited, Fox climbed a short wall into a small, nearby cave, and broke a few SharpClaw supply crates, grabbing a few Puk Puk eggs, Dumbledang pods, and Fuel Cells in case he and Krystal might need them later.

When he came back, Tricky had already finished digging the hole. Tricky called, "Hey! Fox! Look what I found!"

Fox took a look. It appears as though Tricky has found a weird rock. Fox would have been underwhelmed and disappointed if he didn't notice something peculiar about the rock that Trickey found. The rock seemed to have some kind of weird red glow around it. Fox felt that it looked incredibly foreboding and he was instantly afraid that the rock would be too dangerous for him to touch. He hesitated for a few seconds, took a deep breath, then reluctantly picked up the rock, afraid of what kind of physical harm might be inflicted on him if he were to touch it. Apparently, his fears were confirmed. The rock felt so hot that he had to drop the rock immediately. Fox took out his staff and used it to push the rock towards the steam vents like a janitor sweeping trash with a broom. It felt tedious and boring. After a few feet, though, Fox wondered if using the Ice Blast could make the meteor fragment safer to touch. He blew some of the Ice Blast on the fragment, and when the tried picking it up, it was okay for him to touch. He breathed a sigh of relief. Fox picked up the rock and when he reached the steam vents, he put the rock into the steam vent closest to the meteor blocking the path.

Meanwhile on the other side of the valley, Krystal ran into yet another Kalda Chom, thinking the same thing Fox felt, and killed it with two run-throughs of the use-Ground-Quake-then-hit-purple-spot-on-monster's-back routine, picking up the MoonSeed and using it as a necklace due to its crescent-moon-like shape then continued on. After coming across a circle of strange-looking dirt with craters shooting out a strange yellow vapor into the air, and somewhere around the mysterious landmark was a rock that was on fire. Krystal put out the flame with her Ice Blast, and then picked up the fragment, and placed it onto the one of the steam vents closer to the meteor. It was at that moment where she rendezvoused with Fox and noticed that he found another rock just like the one she brought over. The two exchanged friendly looks at each other, before examining the craters for a bit. Krystal asked, "Fox, would you mind if Tricky partnered up with me for a bit? I noticed a bit of ground that he might be able to dig in order to find something useful."

"All right." Fox turned to Tricky for a moment. "Tricky, you mind partnering up with Krystal for a bit?"

Tricky nodded. Fox kept searching the right side of the valley again, while Krystal and Trickey headed toward the left. As soon as Krystal and Tricky approached the weird patch of earth and Tricky dug up the hole, unveiling the meteor fragment. Krystal attempted to pick up the fragment, her hands burned and she kept waving her hands due to the pain caused by touching something so hot. She quickly cooled the rock down with her Ice Blast.

Tricky pointed out, "Fox had that idea too!"

"Didn't he? I supposed he would." She returned to the area with the steam vents and placed the rock on the center steam vent. Then all of a sudden, steam started shooting out from underneath the boulder and it started to rotate around. And the third fragment got elevated even higher than the first two. Krystal got excited. She turned to her right shouting, "Fox! Over here! You need to come over here and see this!"

Fox immediately dashed towards the rest of the group. He spotted the boulder floating in the steam vent. "All right! Nice work! Only three more meteor fragments to go."

"Actually, um…" Krystal then shrugged.

"What?"

"We searched the whole valley. There aren't any more."

Fox was baffled by what he just heard. "What!? How are we supposed to get past that stupid meteor now!?"

"Well, I don't think our goal here is to place a rock into all of the steam vents, but rather to place each rock on a specific vent."

"What do you mean?"

Krystal picked up the meteor fragment put into the steam vent closest to the meteor, which was only just barely being pushed by the steam in the vent. Much to Fox's surprise, the steam beneath the large meteor was still pumping out. Krystal only theorized it would happen, but she didn't seem all that surprised for some reason. She placed the meteor fragment on one of the vents on the more southward sections of the group of steam vents, and then the steam underneath the meteor got even more intense causing it to rise up even higher. Fox wondered if the steam vent right next to the two vents that made the steam underneath the meteor rise was the correct one, so he placed the last meteor fragment there, and the meteor was being lifted so much that Fox, Krystal, and Tricky could finally pass through.

Fox, Krystal, and Tricky did pass through the opening, only to come across yet another Kalda Chom. Fox and Krystal got sick and tired of the whole use-Ground-Quake-then-hit-creature's-back-twice pattern, so, they decided to gang up on the creature instead. They approached the beast from each side, confusing it, with it turning back and forth every which way, and Fox and Krystal readied their staffs ready to stab at the creature's back. The moment the Kalda Chom started turning more wildly, Krystal waited for it to turn its back to her, and when it did, she stabbed at the purple spot on its back. This angered the beast and it turned to attack Krystal, only to get stabbed by Fox from behind and die. Fox picked up the MoonSeed that resulted from the creature's corpse, and planted it on a nearby patch of grass next to a cracked cliffside, and asked Tricky to set fire to it. After the flames caused the vine to grow on the crack on the cliffside, Fox, then Tricky, then Krystal climbed up the vine to the top of the cliff. When they got there, Fox fed Tricky some more GrubTubs and then the group continued moving forward.

After reaching a ledge, the group walked down a downward slope to a level that gently lead them to the area below the ledge. Krystal planted the MoonSeed she used as a necklace earlier, then asked Tricky to ignite it so the vine could grow. After the vine grew from Tricky's flames, the group climbed up the vine, and then climbed up a few upward slopes, leading to a stone opening leading to a small room with a glowing pad inside. As soon as Tricky entered, Fox asked him, "Tricky, do you mind waiting nearby?" Tricky nodded. Fox and Krystal stepped on the pad and the pad grew brighter beneath their feet. The two vulpines felt weightless until they found themselves transported to their destination: the second Krazoa Shrine.

* * *

As soon as Fox and Krystal reappeared in the Krazoa Shrine, Fox climbed up the later with Krystal following him, and as soon as they got up the ladder, they went into the next room, they noticed they had to swim past a small pool to get to the other side, where a tiny flame blocked a stone wall that led to where our heroes needed to go, and hovering above that ledge was a glowing jellyfish-like wraith like the ones Krystal dealt with in the previous Krazoa Shrine. This sounded inconsequential to them on paper, but then they noticed that there were two tiny whirlpools in the middle of the pool. This both baffled and worried the two vulpines because whirlpools could only exist in natural bodies of water, but they had to keep moving. Thankfully, for them, the whirlpools were tiny and only appeared on two of the corners of the room: the left corner on their side of the pool, and the right corner on the other side. Krystal dove in first into the right corner of her and Fox's side of the pool, then swam to the center of the pool and then to the left corner of the far side of the pool, then got up on the nearby ledge. Fox followed the same pattern as Krystal, getting him across the pool safely. Krystal put out the flame blocking their path, while Fox used the Fire Blast to shoot down the wraith, killing it. He and Krystal then climbed up the stone wall, and then noticed that there was a pool of water down below, but no means to get across to the other side, apart from a ledge that our heroes _could_ potentially shimmy across. So Fox decided to give it a try. He lept to the ledge nearby one of the walls and walked along that ledge, but at the end of the ledge, the positioning of the column made it a little tricky for Fox to jump to the other side. Fox took a few steps back and then charged forward so he could leap forward. Unfortunately, he had so little ground to get a head-start with, causing him to slip off the ledge in an instant and fall into the small pool below. He splashed into the pool and quickly swam back up to the surface again. Krystal giggled at Fox's misstep, much to his annoyance. Grinning and bearing it, Fox climbed up the ladder back up to the upper ledge again, but noticed something peculiar along the way. An arc hanging above the previous pool at the shrine's entrance had a Fire Blast switch on the other side. He shot at the switch causing the water in the shallow pool without the whirlpools to rise up so that Fox and Krystal could swim across, which they did.

After they got to the other side, Fox and Krystal passed into the next room and turned right to another room where a series of narrow ledgeways. Fox and Krystal approached the walkways but noticed something peculiar and foreboding about the walkways. The walkways had metal grates that were beneath flame jets that were on the floor below the narrow walkways. This startled the vulpine duo at first, but then Fox decided to count the number of seconds between streaks of flame. He started counting after the flamethrowers took a break from shooting. One… two… three… four…

The flame shoot up again. Krystal held to Fox's arm. "Fox…"

Fox replied, "We'll be okay. Just follow me. We'll walk across the walkway single-file. As soon as I cross the flame jet, I'll keep moving for a few more seconds. So I want you to wait for a few seconds before following."

Krystal said, "Okay." They walked across the walkway with Fox going first, and Krystal following behind. He struggled to figure out the proper speed. If he and Krystal went too slowly, they could get incinerated by the flame jets on the floor while trying to pass them. If they went too quickly, they could slip off the walkway. Fox and Krystal took a few steps along the walkway, right before the first flame jet. They stopped and waited for the flame jet to stop shooting fire. Then as soon as the flames stopped, Fox walked just slightly faster until he got past the first vent. He slowed down his movement and walked slowly on the part of the walkway leading to the left. Krystal walked a few steps toward the metal grating above the first flame jet, then immediately after the flame went away, walked slightly faster until she was past the grating. She slowly walked along the pathway, speeding up her walk only slightly just to catch up with Fox, with the pathway then going along the wall to the left side of the room, then they walked along a path leaning to the right. On that pathway, they came across another metal grating which was above another flame jet. The grate was a bit shorter than the previous one, though, so Fox and Krystal should have no problem getting across it. But they used the same strategy. Fox crossed the grating first, then a few seconds later, Krystal crossed the grating after Fox had created more space between him and the area past the grating. They walked to a part of a walkway that was connected to the wall on the right side of the room, then one that turned left of where they were, then, when there was one more part of the walkway where they turned right, and it was above the last flame jet. Fox made a slight dash across it after the flame died out, reaching the other side of the room. After he made it across, Krystal followed him after the flame stopped as well. With the two vulpines across the walkway, they were relieved to be on solid ground again, but now there was a closed gate standing between them and the Krazoa Spirit.

Krystal spotted a Fire Blast switch on the ceiling. She shot it with her Fire Blast, opening the gate, and they went on through. They walked to the center of the new room and met up with the Krazoa Spirit inside. The spirit spoke to them as they entered the room.

"I have been waiting for you, last child of Cerinia. And it is a pleasure to meet you too, hero of the Lylat Wars."

Fox was baffled and perplex. "It knows about our histories!?"

Krystal replied, "I know. I was as confused about it as you are. But the previous Krazoa Spirit told me that the Spirits know of many things in the galaxy even though they stay on this planet."

The Spirit continued. "Correct. We Krazoa Spirits have an inner connection to the universe. I believe that we can attest to the doomed cries of our brethren. Especially in their dying moments."

Fox exclaimed, "What are you talking…"

But Krystal interrupted, "So you're saying that on my world…"

The Spirit cut Krystal off. "But that's enough talk for now. For now, I shall be yours if you pass the Test of Combat."

Krystal turned to Fox. "All right, Fox. Shall we?"

"However…" the Krazoa Spirit continued, "I'm afraid that your friend must pass this test alone."

"WHAT!?" both vulpines shout in bafflement.

"You, Cerinian, are a great warrior indeed, but your telepathy could make your battles too easy for you at times. Hero of the Lylat Wars, you must pass this test alone."

The spirit started magically lifting Krystal in the air moving her to the edge of the room. And put a barrier around the area around the center of the room. Krystal angrily started pounding at the barrier screaming in rage, "No! I don't want to leave him! We're in this together! I can't…"

But the spirit appeared before her, reassuring her. "Calm down. The Cornerian will be all right. Just have faith in him."

But tears started to form from Krystal's eyes. "But why… I know he's a skilled fighter, but we work best as a team."

"I understand. But Fox's combat abilities need to be tested for when he is on his own. And don't feel too distress. Even alone, he is still formidable. Don't feel too distressed."

Krystal didn't like it, but she knew she had to have faith in the man she loved. Even before he met Krystal, Fox had been becoming skilled with her staff, and even though the one he had now was a bit shorter and heavier than hers, he had become accustomed to it by this point. Hopefully, Krystal wouldn't have to worry too much as Fox was a skilled fighter like she is, so she had to take it like a man. She wasn't one, but she was as skilled and formidable as any.

The Krazoa Spirit returned to Fox in the center of the room to face Fox. "Are you ready for the Test of Combat, Cornerian?"

Fox nodded. "I'm ready."

* * *

 **Author's Notes: One thing about the meteor fragments in the video game version of the story is that they don't cause you damage while you're holding them, they explode when you throw them at something or if one of the flying enemies flies right into it, only to respawn where you find them. So I changed the ways the meteor worked so that it would work for the new medium.**

 **In addition, I felt it would be more dynamic if in this version, Fox was forced to take the Test of Combat alone and once the vulpine heroes came across more Krazoa Spirits, there would be more tests that Krystal would have to face alone as well. Compared to Krystal, Fox is more of an underdog (no pun intended) as he has a shorter, heavier staff and has no telepathy, putting him at a disadvantage compared to Krystal, and I felt that it would be more dynamic if the Krazoa Spirit attempted to prevent the Test of Combat from being too easy for our heroes.**


	4. Chapter 20

"Are you ready for the Test of Combat, Cornerian?"

Fox nodded. "I'm ready."

"Then let us begin. I will bring several SharpClaw soldiers for you to face in battle and you must defeat them all in three minutes and three seconds." The Spirit automatically set a timer on Fox's PDA of 3:30. "If time runs out, you fail."

Fox drew his staff. "Sounds easy enough."

The Spirit started up the timer and disappeared. In an instance, four regular SharpClaw soldiers appeared out of thin air, right before his very eyes. Fox felt that even without Krystal helping him, beating them would still be child's play. He charged forth at the nearest SharpClaw, and slammed the head of his staff down on his head. Another SharpClaw attempted to attack him from behind, but Fox, despite not being a telepath, quickly saw him approaching him from behind, and then kicked him in the stomach, stumbling him, then jammed his staff into the SharpClaw's stomach. He then swung the staff in a 180 degree arc so vigorously, he attacked all four of the SharpClaw at once, taking down the two SharpClaw he landed blows on earlier, and knocking down the other two down on the ground. Fox checked his timer and the timer said he had three minutes and eighteen seconds left. Then two large SharpClaw with shields suddenly started appearing into the room and surrounded Fox on each side. Both of the larger SharpClaw swung their axes at Fox, ready to slice him in half. Fox leapt into the air performed a wall-kick off of the face of one of the big SharpClaw, then drove the tail end of his staff into the skull the other big SharpClaw. The brute collapsed on the floor dead, but the other one raised his axe into the air and swing it down upon Fox to slice him in half, but he immediately dashed out of the way with one of his gadgets from Slippy, which allows him to make a forward dash while leaving a clone of him behind before it dashes back to him. Fox charged his energy into an uppercut with his staff, then he waited for SharpClaw to prepare another attack, dropping his guard in the process. At that moment, Fox unleashed the uppercut on the Sharpclaw, killing it, then quickly dispatched of the other two regular SharpClaws. Three more spawned in, and he quickly took them out two. He checked the timer. He had two minutes left. Five more normal SharpClaw soldiers started appearing in the room surrounding him at all times. Fox became desperate to beat them very quickly so that he would pass the test so he charged up his staff's energy until the red jewel in the head started glowing a bright crimson, then hit the SharpClaw with a spinning attack, taking them out instantly. Then four large shielded SharpClaw appeared at once, surrounding him on all sides. Now, things were really starting to get serious. Fox dashed through the largest opening between two of the large SharpClaws, and once there was enough distance between him and the SharpClaws, charged up a Ground Quake and once they got close to him, released the attack, stunning all four of them at once. He charged at the closest one and smacked him around with his staff, but after landing a few hits on him, another one of the SharpClaw attempted to split Fox in half but he quickly blocked the attack and moved out of the way, and shot at him with Fire Blasts, and then moved in for the kill, smacking him around with his staff like crazy, then kicking him so hard, his axe flew out of his hand. Fox then picked up the axe and threw it at one of the other large SharpClaws' head, killing it. On minute left. Fox wailed on the weakened SharpClaw brute some more but after he killed it, the healthiest brute swung at him from behind. Fox blocked the blow with his staff yet again, but was knocked to the side of the room and his staff flew out of his hand. On the other side of the barrier, Krystal gasped in horror as it seemed Fox wasn't going to succeed in time. The more injured brute started standing between Fox and his staff, but then Fox used his Illusion attack again to get past him. He appeared behind the brute while the illusion injured the SharpClaw soldier some more, before Fox picked up his staff and smacked it a few more times, killing it. Thirty seconds left! Fox turned to the last SharpClaw and froze it in place with his Ice Blast. It was taking him a while to freeze him solid, and the clock was ticking, leaving him thinking, ' _Come on, come on, come on!'_ Finally, the SharpClaw was frozen. Fifteen seconds left. Fox smashed the SharpClaw, shattering it into a thousand pieces. With only nine seconds left on the timer, all of the SharpClaw have been defeated. Fox let out a sigh of relief.

Fox saw the Krazoa emerge from a shimmering field set high into the wall at the end of the shrine. "You have passed," it said to him. "I am yours." and the barrier blocking Krystal disappeared. Without warning, it shot into his body, lifting him up off the floor slightly in the process. Fox yelped in surprise as his feet left the ground, and feared he would fall, but instead felt himself floating gently back to the floor. He felt a thrill of victory course through him, and then Krystal ran up to him and embraced him tightly, shouting, "You did it!" then the room suddenly seemed to dissolve. The area in their vision rippled and twisted nauseatingly, then they found themselves standing on the pad in Moon Mountain Pass.

* * *

Tricky was so happy to see them return safely. "You made it! What took you so long?!"

Fox chuckles. "Sorry, Tricky, but we had a few obstacles to get past. Krazoa Shrines are kinda tricky like that."

But Tricky looked a little worried. "Um, Fox? Your eyes…" Tricky saw that Fox's eyes were now glowing with an eerie blue light.

Krystal said, "That's because he now has the Krazoa Spirit. My eyes went like that when I acquired the previous one."

Fox, Krystal, and Tricky headed out of the room back to Moon Mountain Pass. As soon as they stepped out, the Krazoa Spirit they saw before appeared before them and spoke to them again.

"You have proven yourself to be pure of heart. Bring the Spirit to Krazoa Palace. I will guide you further when you get there. Come to Krazoa Palace." The spirit then disappeared.

Fox felt ready to set off. "All right, Krystal, let's head of to…" But then he noticed a terrified, almost petrified look on Krystal's face. "Krystal? Are you… okay?"

Krystal trembled in panic and fear. She was sweating profusely.

"Krystal, can you hear me!? Are you all right!?"

Krystal took a deep breath. "Fox? Remember when I told you about that evil presence that I felt when I fled Cerinea?" Krystal had avoided mentioning this to Fox the last time she mentioned it to him, but now she felt that there was no way around it. Tears started bursting in her eyes. "The last time I went to Krazoa Palace, that very presence manifested itself as a phantasm and tried to attack me after I released the first Krazoa spirit! It nearly pushed me into a beam that activated after I released the spirit and just like when Cerinea was destroyed, I barely escaped with my life! He tried to… and then I..."

Fox embraced Krystal tightly and patted her on the back of her head. "It's all right, Krystal. You've said enough."

Krystal breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Fox."

"You're welcome, Krystal. Actually, since I'm the one with a Krazoa Spirit this time, I was thinking I could go to Krazoa Palace by myself while you stay somepla…"

"NO!"

"Krystal?"

"What if that horrid entity has been watching us the whole time!? What if he knows of our lo… I mean, our friendship!? If you set foot into Krazoa palace alone, you'll be as vulnerable to him as I was! What if he uses you to bend me to its will!? What if he takes you as a hostage, threatening to kill you if I don't do as he tells me!?" Tears started forming in Krystal's eyes yet again. "What if he possesses or brainwashes you forcing me to… to…" Krystal couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence. She feared that if Fox went into Krazoa Palace alone, her pursuer would use Fox, the man she loved, as a means to hurt Krystal, which she felt that was even more cruel than trying to hurt her himself. Fox hugged her. Krystal continued to cry. "I'm sorry, Fox. I know you mean well, but I just don't want to…"

"It'll be all right, Krystal. We're in this together."

Krystal smiled. She suspected that even with her staff back she wouldn't be a match for the phantasm alone, but as long as she and Fox worked together, they might stand a chance. They headed down the downward slopes that led back to the Moon Mountain Pass.

After the group walked along the trail, they ran into a pair of Kalda Choms, and Fox and Krystal groaned at the notion that they still had fight these things. Fox hit one with a Ground Quake hitting both of them at once. Fox and Krystal each locked on to a different Kalda Chom and hit each one in the purple spots on their backs. Then Krystal used a Ground Quake and they repeated the process again. They decided from then on to run past any Kanda Chom they come across, since they can't move, and didn't even bother picking up the MoonSeeds that appeared after the Kalda Choms died. When they got to the end, they found a Fuel Barrel and a few platforms to a cliffside, with gusts of wind in between them. At the cliffside was a cracked wall that required an explosive for them to get through. Of course, the Fuel Barrel had a timer, which meant it would detonate after a certain amount of time.

Fox picked up the Fuel Barrel and carried across the platforms as he and the Fuel Barrel were carried off by the wind to the other side in between each platform. When he got to the end, he put down the Fuel Barrel, then went back to the penultimate platform, and waited for the Fuel Barrel to explode. After the Barrel finally exploded, he went up to the newly-created cave entrance, turned to his friends on the other side of the platforms calling, "It's all clear!" and using the "come-here" gesture and turned around and moved forward so that Krystal wouldn't have to worry about him peeking up her loincloth. Tricky followed the windy path across the platforms and then Krystal followed afterwards. Fox came across to the end of the tunnel which led to a powerful wind surge that would lead back out of the tunnel and then waited for the rest of the group to catch up. As soon as Krystal and Tricky caught up to him, the trio hopped into the wind vent and found themselves back in a more familiar section of Moon Mountain Pass. They came across yet, another Kalda Chom, but Fox and Krystal were tired of fighting them by this point, so they just dashed right past it. They had a good number of MoonSeeds by that point anyway. After dashing their way up the slope and jumping down the ledge where they planted their first MoonSeed, the trio went through the building where SharpClaw set up shop before Fox and Krystal took them out.

The trio walked under the structure and back into the pathway leading back to ThornTail Hollow and through the tunnel at the end. As they were walking through that tunnel, Krystal had something very important to ask. "Fox? Remember when I said that those villains responsible for Cerinia's destruction died when the planet collapsed?"

"I'm listening."

"Well now I'm thinking, what if I'm wrong? What if some of them some of them really did evacuate in time? And really did have an involvement in what's happening to this world?"

"I find that easy to believe. We should be on guard just in case." They reached ThornTail Hollow again, and decided to have a short rest before heading off to Krazoa Palace.

* * *

As Fox, Krystal, and Tricky left Moon Mountain Pass, over on the cliffs at the far side of the pass, a mysterious figure spied on them from afar with a high-tech scope. She reported to someone else on a communications line. "I've spotted the last Cerinian. And apparently, Fox McCloud is with her. That could be a problem."

"I don't think the boss should be too concerned. They'll deliver the goods in due time, so he shouldn't concern himself with what happened last time she arrived at Krazoa Palace."

"Doesn't his plan require a Cerinian in order to function?"

"If it does, I have a backup plan for that. I've reported it to the boss and told him not to concern himself with her. At least, not for now. Even so, I want you to keep an eye on them."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

As soon as Fox, Krystal, and Tricky returned to ThornTail hollow, the decided to take a quick look at the remaining eleven maps that Krystal bought before they headed into the DarkIce Mines. Fox scanned the maps for Krazoa Palace before they set off there, but then he decided to scan all the maps so that he would be fully prepared later on. Then, he headed into the ThornTail Hollow shop for any necessary supplies before he and Krystal set out to continue their journey. Meanwhile, a bummed out Krystal took off Fox's now ruined vest and put it back into the cockpit of Fox's Arwing. As soon as Fox entered the ThornTail Hollow shop, Shabunga appeared before him.

"Well, well. Long time no zhee. I never thought that lady friend of yourzh would be zho beneficial to my finanzhes. And I wazh worried my buzhinezh would crumble."

Fox stammered. "Well, I'm glad she was able to help."

"Anyway, I have zhomething zhpecial for you. Follow me." Shabunga glided to one of the other rooms and Fox followed him. When they got to the room, Shabunga showed Fox a high-tech pair of binoculars and it seemed to pique Fox's interest. "This is the High-Def Dizhplay Devizhe. Thizh allowzh you to zhee many thingzh from a dizhtanzhe. Pretty handy, izhn't it?"

Fox thought, " _High-Def Display Device? Sounds like the name of an add-on for someone's TV. It would definitely come in handy, though._ " He said, "All right, I'll take it."

"That would be twenty zhcarabs, boy."

Fox's Scarab Bag was pretty much full, containing up to fifty scarabs, so, feeling that haggling wouldn't be necessary, paid for it at full price. He then purchased two more fireflies in case he needed them in Krazoa Palace. Afterwards, he left the ThornTail Hollow store and met up with Tricky and Krystal outside.

"All right, guys. I got some supplies for our trip to Krazoa Palace. You guys ready?"

Tricky jumped up, yelling, "Ready!? I'm pumped! Let's do this!"

Krystal on the other hand had a look on her face that clearly showed uncertainty. She was trembling and she squeezed her hands into fists. She was afraid of what that ghost would do to her if she encountered it again, but she didn't want to leave Sauria to die. But she knew that this time, she wouldn't be facing it alone. She turned up to Fox and said, "Yes."

Fox nodded. The group headed off to the WarpStone at the side of the Hollow. As soon as the team walked to the small wall-enclosed garden and to the WarpStone's alter, Fox and Krystal stepped to the circular platform in the middle.

The WarpStone greeted the two vulpines gleefully. "Weel, weel, it's great teh see ye kiddies again! Ah! I see yah've collected a Krazoa Spirit, laddie! Is the lass comin' with yah to Krazoa Palace?"

Krystal quickly interjected, "Yes! Krazoa Palace is too dangerous for anyone to traverse alone. I'm going with him."

"Ye've got guts, lass." The WarpStone lowered the hand opposite the one he lowered when he warped Fox to Ice Mountain much earlier on. Fox and Krystal stepped onto the hand. The Warpstone lifted his hand back up to eye level, and a look of concentration crossed his face. Fox and Krystal felt a strange tingle course through their bodies, then motes of light began to dance around them. Suddenly the light and tingling sensation intensified, and they disappeared from the Warpstone's palm.

* * *

As soon as Fox and Krystal were teleported all the way to Krazoa Palace, they stepped off the teleporting platform and stepped off the platform and began walking along the bridge leading to Krazoa Palace. Krystal took a deep breath. Then she turned to Fox saying, "Welcome to Krazoa Palace, Fox. I must say that it is a beautiful place."

"It most certainly is. You think so too, right Tricky?" Much to Fox's surprise, though, Tricky wasn't there. He and Krystal looked around for a few moments, but couldn't find him. "Tricky?"

The two vulpines heard the WarpStone's voice. "Sorry. Ah forgot to tell yeh. I can't warp dinosaurs."

Krystal asked, "But they are native to this planet! How are you unable to warp the natives of Sauria?"

"Fer some ahd reason, mah powers are incompatible with them. Cahn't comprehend their wavelengths."

Fox tugged at Krystal's arm saying, "We'd better go. The sooner we return the spirit, the sooner we can leave this place. And considering what happened on your last visit here, we shouldn't be here for long. Questions like these will have to wait."

"I understand, Fox."

"Now, I want to make one thing clear to you, Krystal." Fox held onto Krystal's hand tightly. "As long as we are in Krazoa Palace, I want you to stay close to me. If that thing attacks you again, I want to be able to protect you. Splitting up is out of the question. If we're separated, I won't be able to keep you safe. Do I make myself clear?"

Krystal nodded. "As clear as my namesake, Fox."

Fox smiled. The two walked along the bridge and into Krazoa Palace.

 **Author's Notes: In the video game version, the Test of Combat was way too easy, since even with the time limit, it was nothing more than you fighting a bunch of SharpClaw, so I decided to modify it so that the stakes are actually higher than they were in the game, and make it seem all the more like an actual struggle to accomplish. Plus, the way ninjafoxshadow wrote the scene with the Test of Observation made it seem like it went too easily, so I decided to make the Test of Combat seem significantly more challenging. I also decided to put Fox's Fox Illusion from Super Smash Bros. Melee into his fighting style in this story.**

 **As for Krystal's encounter with that ghost from the third chapter (of ninjafoxshadow's "version"), I definitely haven't forgotten about it and it's being brought up again here. Speaking of which, I am legitimately curious about one thing: in the video game version, why did Andross capture Krystal at the start of the game anyway? He needed the power of the Krazoa Spirits to revive himself and Krystal was starting her mission to bring the Krazoas back to the Palace anyway, so why didn't Andross simply wait for her to bring the Krazoa back to the Palace on her own? Did his plan require a Cerinian to be imprisoned in order to function? Did he need the life force of a Cerinian specifically in case he didn't get all the Krazoa Spirits back in time? Please let me know in a review.**


	5. Chapter 21

_A small, eleven-year old Krystal walked towards a large building, holding hands with her mother, a statuesque vixen wearing a long robe with gold triangle-like patterns around the neck and the openings for her arms. The vixen said, "This is it, Krystal. Welcome to Krazoa Palace."_

 _Krystal was awestruck. "It's beautiful!"_

" _Indeed it is. This is the home of the Krazoa Spirits."_

" _Krazoa Spirits?"_

" _They are the guardians of our world. They bring life to this world and protect it from evil."_

" _Cool! But what do they do? What is the extent of their power?"_

" _When you are ready to become a Krazoa Priestess like me, you will know."_

" _But if I'm not ready to learn about the Krazoa Spirits, why are you bringing me to their home?"_

" _Because they created a weapon for you. The weapon has chosen you. Come inside." She walked in front of the door leading to Krazoa Palace and placed her hand on the door that lead inside. The stone door slowly opened, and once the opening was wide enough, Krystal and her mother walked inside. While they were inside Krazoa Palace, Krystal was awestruck at the sheer beauty of the architecture. Everything about it fascinated her as she and her mother walked deeper and deeper inside the palace. After they walked through several hallways through the palace, they walked into a small room with a dim blue light on the ceiling above a pedestal in the middle of the room. In the pedestal, there was a gold staff with blue filigree on its shaft, and the head of the staff was a gold oval-shape with a sapphire in the center. Krystal's mother smiled saying, "Well, go ahead. Pick it up."_

 _Krystal nervously walked toward the pedestal and slowly climbed it. She paused for a moment. She felt that picking up the staff would change her life forever. She took a deep breath, slowly inhaling, then slowly exhaling, then she picked up the staff and released it from its pedestal._ _Suddenly it sparked in h_ _er_ _hands and she jumped in surprise, but didn't let go of the staff._ _She turned back to her mother._

" _That staff has chosen you to be its wielder. Can you feel its power, Krystal?"_

 _Krystal looked at the staff. "I can… It's just like that staffs that you and father wield."_

" _And that's not all. Follow me."_

 _Krystal followed her mother into another chamber connected to the one they were in. When they arrived there, Krystal stepped onto the pedestal in the center of the room. A blue ghostly being appeared before her._ _It looked like nothing more than a face with oblong eyes, a dour expression on its mouth, an elongated chin, and either thick strands of hair or tentacles extending out from the back of its head._

" _Welcome to Krazoa Palace, child."_

 _Krystal was awestruck at what she saw. "A Krazoa Spirit!? This is amazing! I can't believe I'm meeting one with my own two eyes! But what are you guys, really? I mean, I know you are important to our world and that you're super powerful, but there's more to you than that, isn't there?"_

" _There is, but you are not ready to learn it yet. For now, please accept our gift, young child." The spirit summoned an aura of energy around Krystal. She started levitating in the air and felt energy welling up inside of her as the light intensified. As soon as the light faded away, the Spirit gently let Krystal float back down. Krystal somehow felt much stronger than ever._

" _You have been blessed with our power, child. Use it wisely. For only those with a pure heart can wield the power of the Krazoa. We Krazoa do not take kindly to those that would use our power for evil. But you have a pure heart. You are worthy of our power. You are worthy of our trust." The spirit faded away._

" _Hey! Wait! Come back!" But it was too late. The spirit had already faded._

 _Krystal's mother walked up to her and patted on her shoulder. "Don't feel too upset, Krystal. Your father and I will take you and your brother here to Krazoa Palace again to train you two to use our staffs and your powers."_

" _Sabre's getting one too?"_

" _Indeed. Your father and I are hoping that the two of you would become great warriors just like us, Krystal. Courageous, noble, always protecting the weak."_

 _Krystal affectionately started hugging her mother. "I would love to come back here again! You're the best, mommy! I love you so much!"_

* * *

"...Ever since then, my parents have been bringing me and my brother, Sabre, to Cerinia's Krazoa Palace for training." Krystal concluded the story of her childhood as she and Fox have already finished crossing the bridge and walking up a ramp that led to an entrance to Krazoa Palace. "It was a beautiful place just this Krazoa Palace."

"You know, I think there's an upside to the WarpStone being unable to warp Tricky. Otherwise, he'd insist we'd sightsee. If that phantasm that threatened you earlier weren't here, we'd be fine with that, but considering how dangerous this place is with that thing running around, we have to return the Spirit quickly."

"You're right, Fox. Let's just return the Spirit and then leave."

Fox and Krystal entered Krazoa Palace, only to find themselves in a very dark room. Fox found it fortunate that he purchased a few fireflies beforehand, so he released one from his FIreFly Lantern, and then he and Krystal, gained a limited view of the room. Krystal noticed a ramp leading upwards, and then the two of them walked up the ramp with the firefly following them. They walked across the room on the scaffolding that the ramp led to, and down a few walkways. By the time the firefly started to give out and fade away, Fox and Krystal noticed a light coming from a crack in the wall. Fox walked up towards that wall and through the crack, spotted a Fuel Barrel on the other side. Krystal asked, "Mind if I take care of this?"

"Feel free, Krystal." Fox took a step back from the wall and watched Krystal work her magic. She concentrated on the Fuel Barrel on the other side of the crack, and opened her hand and laid it flat. A blue glow emanated around the Fuel Barrel and as Krystal lifted her hand upwards, the barrel started floating in the air. Krystal flicked her hand towards herself and the barrel rammed straight the cracked wall, blowing it up. The cracked wall collapsed and the way was open. As Fox and Krystal walked through the new gap in the wall, Fox said, "Nice work, Krystal!"

"Why thank you, Fox." They walked into the new room and the metal circle the Fuel Barrel sat on produced another one. The path ahead had two flamethrowers on the sides of the room. Krystal used her Fire Blast on the switch on the ceiling and once it was activated, the flamethrowers started moving. Fox picked up the Fuel Barrel and he and Krystal took advantage of how slowly the flamethrowers moved and dodged them with ease as they ran to the other side of the room, where another cracked wall blocked their path. Fox threw the Fuel Barrel at the cracked wall, blowing it up. They walked into the next room, where something resembling a turret floated in the far end of the room protected by a force field. Fox and Krystal recognized that there was yet another orb-flame color puzzle just like the one at the Volcano Force Point Temple: A blue orb on the right side of the room and a green orb on the left both had flames that changed colors right in front of them. Fox and Krystal took aiming positions on each side of the room with their staffs. Fox took to the left side of the room aiming at the green orb, Krystal took to the right aiming at the blue one, both positioning themselves so that their Fire Blast shot would go through the flame when they fire it. Krystal waited for the flame on her side to turn blue, and when it did, she fired at the orb, activating it. When the flame on Fox's side of the room turned green, he shot the orb, activating it. With both orbs activated, the force field around the turret disappeared, and they both shot Fire Blasts at the turret until it exploded.

After the turret exploded Fox noticed that there was a pressure switch underneath it, and suspected that it would require a weight for them to get across. He immediately noticed a SharpClaw crate in the room and decided to use it for that weight. He pushed the crate towards the switch, but doing so took up a lot of a lot of energy and by the time he got the crate halfway across the room, he was getting tired, until for some reason, pushing the crate somehow felt easier to him. Fox assumed of course that it was because he built up some strength as he pushed the crate, and that strength gave him a boost to push the crate. But after a quick glance to his right, he realized that Krystal was outright helping him push the crate. Fox gave Krystal a grateful smile as they kept pushing the crate onto the switch. He never would have imagined that Krystal would be strong in the physical sense as well as the emotional one, as to him, she came across as someone who relied on agility and intelligence to win battles Once the crate went onto the switch, the two vulpines stopped pushing and caught their breath. The switch opened the door to the next room and the two foxes walked through it.

The next room had a teleporter platform in the center and at the very end, an elevator-like platform leading them to the next room. As they walked across the room, Fox decided to make some idle conversation. "So, Krystal, how did you arrive at _this_ Krazoa Palace the first time?"

"When I reported to the CloudRunner queen about the distress signal that I detected, she asked one of her subjects, a friend of mine named Kite to help me find the signal. I hitched a ride on Kite's back and we flew all over Sauria, searching for the source of the distress signal, making pit stops to help those in need along the way, even leading to me fending off that ShadowHunter attack I mentioned earlier as well as a few RedEye attacks. One stormy night, as the trail was getting warmer, I stumbled upon General Scales' galleon, where I had my first encounter with the evil general himself. He claimed not to be evil, claiming that he needed to rule the other tribes by fear just so they wouldn't try to fight him." Krystal squeezed her fist which wasn't holding Fox's hand. "But all the power-hungry tyrants I've confronted, and all the ones my parents and other tribesmen confronted have used similar excuses. They become so scared of their own subjects that they are willing to abuse them just to keep them in line. My tribe has always hated those kinds of people, and fortunately, we were never afraid to stand up to them. We courageously confronted any vile tyrant we came across and whenever we sensed the suffering of innocents, we rushed to their aid without hesitation."

Fox and Krystal stepped onto the elevator at the end of the room. "And… Oh, I'm sorry, I got off topic. Anyway, when Scales started tormenting a baby CloudRunner he kept captive, I snapped and tried to confront him. Fortunately, Kite saved my life when Scales threw me overboard and we continued on to find the signal." The elevator reached up to an entrance to an aquarium-like hallway. "It turned out to be from Krazoa Palace, and when I got there…" Krystal could barely bring herself to continue speaking. But she mustered up her willpower to continue talking. "The Earthwalker soldiers… sent to guard the palace... were…" tears started emerging from Krystal's eyes. "...attacked."

Fox hugged Krystal and let her cry on his shoulder. "It's all right. I can guess everything else from here."

"Only one EarthWalker survived the onslaught. And that EarthWalker... " Krystal couldn't stop crying "...sacrificed his life to save mine…"

Fox hugged her more tightly. "It's all right. You've said enough." He and Krystal walked through that sapphire hallway.

"You're right, Fox. I won't let that EarthWalker's death be in vain." The two held hands continued down the hallway and took a glance to their right. That path led to a dead end, so they walked along the path to the left instead. Krystal felt anger welling up inside her. "I hope we find a way to kill this horrendous demon once and for all."

The vulpine duo reached a room with a large fan in the center of the room, and Fox led Krystal to that fan in hopes that they could use it to get to the top of the room. Krystal felt a little nervous at first, but she went with it. They walked up to the fan with Fox moving just slightly ahead of Krystal so that he wouldn't accidentally peek up her loincloth. The fan sent them flying to a very high position in the room, and they floated to another fan nearby, which took them to a higher level in the room. The floor they landed at had a circular structure to it, and they walked along the corridor to another fan that took them to the roof of Krazoa Palace.

* * *

When the two vulpines landed on the roof, Krystal couldn't help but be amazed at the beautiful sights she saw on the roof. She was almost tempted to sightsee, but she knew that with that phantasm she barely escaped from lurking about, that would be out of the question. However, she did spot the Krazoa Spirit circle around a large crystal in the middle of a podium at the center of the roof. "Hey! Fox! Take a look! I found where the Krazoa Spirits gather!" She and Fox rushed to the podium and dashed up the ramp leading to the crystal.

Fox looked a little confused. He kind of chuckled to see that there was a large crystal in the center of the podium on the roof. "Maybe this is how you got your name."

"It _was_. When my parents first met each other, and they first started falling in love, my father told my mother that she was just as beautiful as the crystal on the roof of Cerinia's Krazoa Palace. Years later, when I was born, she christened me with the name 'Krystal.'"

Fox briefly saw the Krazoa spirit fly around the crystal. "A Krazoa Spirit? But how do I get mine in there?"

Krystal snickered at hearing Fox's comment. After a few seconds of laughing, she caught her breath and stood behind Fox, and started stroking his chest. "You make it sound so naughty." Fox blushed intensely, and was so overwrought with embarrassment that he almost didn't notice that it felt like the floor was rumbling beneath them, as a stone bust of a Krazoa statue appeared out of a round plating on the wall of the platform that resembled a pool of water, with a glowing pad appearing in front of it. Fortunately for him, Krystal noticed the rumbling. "Well, that's our cue. Come on, Fox, we have a Spirit to release."

Fox saw that there were odd mechanisms above and below the crystal in the platform. A set of thin, metallic legs circled the upper tip of the crystal from above, while another circled the lower tip from below. And slightly above the upper set of legs was an ominous pair of antennae that circled around the sides of the crystal. "What are those odd mechanisms, Krystal?"

"That's a part of the system for Krazoa Palace that regulates the power of the Krazoa Spirits when they are released, and allows them to use their power to help the planet flourish, as well as getting the SpellStones to function. Unfortunately, there's an ominous side to them as well."

Fox shuttered to think what that "ominous side" could possibly be.

Krystal continued. "Like I said before, my tribe detested ruthless, power-hungry warlords that abused their own people as well as other tribes. They used the crystal in Cerinia's Krazoa Palace as a method of sentencing tyrants, murderers, torturers, rapists, and mutilators to slow, painful deaths. We would shove them into a beam that traps them inside that crystal, where they slowly have their life force drained from them, all the while experiencing intense pain and suffering."

"That's… pretty dark."

"True, but if you learned of what those people did, would you feel sorry for them? Now, come along. Let's just release the spirit and leave." The vulpine duo walked down the ramp to release the spirit. But Krystal briefly looked back at the crystal in the center of the roof, shuddering to think of what it would be like to be trapped in it.

As soon as Fox and Krystal approached the statue of the Krazoa that appeared on the perimeter of the pedestal, Fox walked onto the glowing pad with Krystal standing behind him. He dropped to his knees in front of the statue. He felt the spirit strain to leave his body, and he gasped at the strain. Suddenly he convulsed and doubled over, and the spirit came floating out of him, moving towards the statue. The statue shook and seemed to chitter as the spirit resumed its proper resting place, and the eyes began to glow white. Krystal briefly spotted the second Krazoa spirit floating around the crystal in the center of the roof. She was ecstatic to see that the plan was working, and then she tightly embraced Fox, shouting, "You did it!" Fox, whose eyes were no longer glowing blue, gave an embarrassed chuckle, but then the Krazoa statue opened its mouth and a blue light emanated from it. Without any warning, Fox and Krystal were quickly sucked into it. They found themselves in a weird psychedelic mindtrip that felt exactly like the one they felt when the WarpStone warped them to Krazoa Palace in the first place. They felt light-headed. They felt like their bodies were surrounded by nothingness. Until…

* * *

Fox and Krystal, all of a sudden appeared back right in front of the WarpStone in ThornTail Hollow. Fox said, "Well, at least leaving Krazoa Palace was easy."

The WarpStone called to the two vulpines. "Right there, kiddies! How was your trip to Krazoa Palace?"

Krystal replied, "I must say it is indeed a beautiful place."

The WarpStone laughed. "That's great to hear! Anyway, Ah've been keeping this back for you. Ready for when yeh needed it." A scarab bag slightly larger than the one that Fox and Krystal previously had slid down the WarpStone's arm and landed right in front of him. Fox eagerly picked it up and took a peek inside. "And it's been pre-filled too. Nice work!"

The WarpStone chuckled, "Yeh cheeky little blighter! Anyway, it's gret to see you appreciate my efforts."

"Well, thanks anyway." Fox turn to Krystal and then asked, "So, Krystal, where to next?"

"Just a second," Krystal replied. She tried meditating to see if her telepathy picked up anything. But then, she started moving her facial muscles in ways to indicate restlessness.

Fox couldn't help but worry. "Is something wrong, Krystal?"

"The CloudRunner Queen. She is in danger. She is being held captive at Cape Claw!" She quickly grabbed Fox's arm. "Come with me, Fox! We have to rescue her! You, too, Tricky!" Krystal quickly dashed towards a tunnel on the opposite side of the village dragging Fox with her, with Tricky struggling to catch up to them. The trio dashed passed two of the large, red mushrooms like the ones back in the ThornTail Hollow Well. Fox groaned, "Not those things again. I hate them." The trio quickly dashed off into the tunnel past the gate, and were on their way to Cape Claw.

 **Author's Notes: Many fans of StarFox (myself included) have the theory that Cerinia had its own Krazoa Spirits and quite possibly its own Krazoa Palace. A person on the internet named UndyingNephilim is working on a game called Star Fox Event Horizon that actually utilized that theory as Cerinian weaponry used Krazoa powers and the BattleMechs had a Krazoa face on the front. I wanted to incorporate that into this story while also being consistent with Krystal asking that EarthWalker what a Krazoa Spirit was. Also, I know that SharpClaw soldiers existed in the game version of this section of the story, but I wanted to be consistent with Chapter 3 saying they were too afraid to set foot in the Palace.**


	6. Chapter 22

Fox, Krystal, and Tricky ran through a stone corridor, turning at a few corners, and as they ran, Fox felt like he was getting tired out pretty quickly. By the time the trio exited the tunnel, Fox slipped out of Krystal's grasp, stumbled onto the ground, and struggled to catch his breath. Krystal became pretty impatient due to the fact that the CloudRunner Queen was in peril; she just shouted, "Fox, get a move on! We have a queen to rescue!"

Fox panted in exhaustion, "I… (huff) know… (huff) but…(huff) you're (huff) going (huff) too (huff) fast…"

"The CloudRunner Queen might die if we keep procrastinating!"

"I agree. I just think that you need to slow down just enough so that I could keep up with you. After all, we're in this together."

Tricky said, "He's got a point. And I started to get pretty exhausted too."

Krystal didn't want to wait any longer. She wanted to get over to Cape Claw immediately so that she could rescue the CloudRunner Queen, but she didn't want to abandon her two new allies, especially not Fox himself. She reluctantly accepted. "All right. Now, let's get going."

The trio took a path to the right and jumped down to a small pond down a cliff, swam around a corner across said pond and walked up a slope leading them back to dry land. After they finished walking up the slope, they turned to their right and walked down a similar stone-walled tunnel to the one they just left. As they walked through that tunnel, Fox asked Krystal as he and Tricky followed her, "You seem to know your way to Cape Claw. How did you know how to get there?"

"When Kite and I escaped from Krazoa Palace and evaded that evil phantasm's grasp, he said that he and I should return to CloudRunner Fortress, but when we attempted to reach there, it was already lifted off the ground, and we couldn't get there. All we saw was a crater the size of a mountain. Kite and I flew to Cape Claw to gather supplies from it the shuttle that I used to flee Cerinia when it collapsed. But we were tired so we decided to rest before planning our next move. After a nice dinner and some sleep, unfortunately, we were ambushed by a group of SharpClaw soldiers. I fought them off as well as I could, using the silver staff that you wield now as opposed to my golden one, but they captured Kite and stole my shuttle." The group then walked out of the stone hallway and a more regular tunnel with a more circular structure, with some vegetation on the sides near the walls, including glowing orange bulb-like plants. "I tried to rescue him but it wasn't even a contest. There were just too many SharpClaw standing between me and Kite. By the time I finally reached the shuttle, it was already taking off. I lost everything I had on there. My ship, my supplies, and worst of all, my partner. The HighTop at Cape Claw told me how to get to ThornTail Hollow, and that was where I met you."

"I'm sure we'll find a way to rescue him eventu…" But then, the team walked into a small forest sandwiched between stone walls, where some of the trees had orange target signs painted on them. Fox stopped and walked toward one of the trees, examining the target sign. "What is this? It doesn't look all that good."

"This is the outskirts of LightFoot Village. Thankfully all the LightFoot people are past a nearby gate, and as long as we stay away from it, we should be fine. Like I said before, they hate seeing others walk in on their territory. But as long as we stay away from that gate, we should be fine. Not the gate straight ahead. That takes us to Cape Claw. But the gate to the right of us at the center of this path. As long as we don't go near it, we'll be okay."

"Okay. Now, I feel much safer. Thanks, Krystal."

"You're welcome, Fox. Now let's not waste anymore time. We have a queen to rescue."

After Fox and Krystal walked a bit further on the path, they came across a SharpClaw lurking in the woods. Fox drew his staff and beat down on it, then charged up and uppercut, knocking it on its back. They advanced forward, and after a few more seconds of walking, came across another SharpClaw. Krystal drew her staff and backflipped above the SharpClaw, landing behind him, then grabbed it from behind, putting it in a chokehold, and tightened her grip until it passed out. When they got to the gate at the other side of the path, it was closed. Krystal yelped, "What!? What is this!? The gate was open when I left Cape Claw the first time! What is this!?"

Fox noticed a pedestal resembling one of the scarabs right in front of the gate. "Maybe this thing has something to do with it." He crouched down in front of it and examined it.

But the pedestal started talking, "Pay sixty Scarabs to enter Cape Claw!"

Fox stumbled back. "Whoa! Did this thing just talk!?"

Krystal walked toward the pedestal. "Well, if this thing _can_ talk…" She crouched down next to Fox, leering at it. "Then it has some explaining to do. Out with it. You weren't here when I was leaving Cape Claw long before today, so why are you here now? And why are you refusing to let us pass unless we give you Scarabs?"

"I'm hungry. Give me Scarabs to enter Cape Claw."

"Did somebody put you here? Did the SharpClaw place you here just to waste our time and resources? Do you have _any_ idea how much danger the CloudRunner Queen is in!?"

"Give me sixty Scarabs or go away!"

Krystal groaned. "Fox, let's just give him the stupid Scarabs."

"Well, all right." Fox opened up his Scarab bags and looked inside. "Okay, I found three yellow scarabs, those are worth ten Scarabs each so that makes thirty," he put them into the pedestal's mouth, "five red scarabs, each red scarab is worth five scarabs to that's twenty-five more…" he put them into the pedestal's mouth as well, "so, thirty plus twenty-five is fifty-five, so…" then he put five green scarabs into the pedestal. "Five more, and we're good to go."

"Thanks, Fox." Krystal then leered at the pedestal. "Satisfied,"

The pedestal let out a large burp. "Go on. In you go." The gate opened behind it, leading to a small maze.

Krystal rolled her eyes at the fact that the pedestal was there to begin with, but she, Fox, and Tricky walked through the gate.

As soon as Fox, Tricky, and Krystal waked into the maze, Fox asked, "You know your way around this? If not, I could use my PDA to get us to the other side."

"I do know how to get across. It'll be a bit of a walk to get there, but…" Krystal started walking in a sultry manner, swaying her hips back and forth, all the while smiling at him flirtatiously and saying, "...I know how to make it less boring."

Fox, blushed intensely, upon hearing Krystal saying that. It was almost unfathomable to him that she would outright invite him to ogle her. Then again, she did have incredibly flirtatious interactions with him and even expressed an interest in seeing him naked, so, Fox thought why not and went along with it. But while he did enjoy, looking at Krystal's derriere as she playfully wiggled back and forth, he did check his PDA every few seconds to check to see if they were going in the wrong direction. And every time he noticed them taking a wrong turn, (which happened a grand total of twice due to Krystal's keen intuition) he was sure to remind Krystal and inform her of the direction they were supposed to go and she would change direction accordingly. After they finished getting out of the maze, they passed through a few more brick hallways, with Krystal briefly looking back at Fox, saying, "Keep staring, Fox. You wouldn't want to look at boring brick walls on this trip, would you?" Fox blushed, but kept looking at Krystal's butt until they exited the corridor and approached what appeared to be a well, surrounded by a fence, with a ladder leaning downwards. It was at that moment, when Fox snapped his attention back to the environments around him.

Fox peeked at what was below them. "It looks like that ladder is going to take us to Cape Claw. Alright, ladies first."

Krystal knew exactly why Fox made that suggestion this time. In contrast do going up a ladder, if Krystal goes first when she and the rest of the team go down a ladder, with Fox following after her, Fox would be above her and unable to get a perverted peek at her. Krystal slid down the ladder first, then Fox followed her afterwards, carrying Tricky on his back. The ladder took them to a wooden catwalk where they came across another ladder and descended that ladder in the same order as before. They walked along the lower catwalk to yet another ladder leading upwards at the end of the walkway. Fox did notice a hole in the catwalk with yet another ladder, but he figured it would be best to check it out later. He went up to the ladder and climbed up it, with Tricky on his back, with Krystal following him, and then the trio walked through a short, brief tunnel. .

Once our heroes exited the tunnel, they reached a slope leading down to what appeared to be a beach below. They excitedly ran along the downward pathway leading to Cape Claw, until they stumbled upon a large SharpClaw wielding an axe. Fox and Krystal readied their staffs as the creature dashed towards them. The SharpClaw swung its axe at the two vulpine warriors, but they dodged the soldier's blow and attacked it from each side, giving it almost no room to breath before they killed it. With the large SharpClaw dead, they continued onward. They walked along the slope, but then, Fox briefly noticed what appeared to be jail bars off in the distance along what appeared to be the base of a cliff. He felt that it looked pretty suspicious, so, he took out his Hi-Def Display Device and zoomed in on the bars. He could see the CloudRunner queen very clearly behind them. He noticed in detail that she was crying. "Krystal, I see the CloudRunner Queen. And…" Fox zoomed in even more. He saw that the Queen's eyes were blackened, and she had wounds on her wings. "What have they done to her!?"

Krystal growled, "Those evil beasts! They'll pay for what they've done to her! Let's go, Fox! She needs our help."

"You hear the lady, Tricky, we've got a Queen to save!"

Tricky was kind of reluctant at first. "Me!? Save a CloudRunner!? You gotta be joking!"

"I am _not_!" barked Krystal, enraged that the EarthWalker and CloudRunner tribes were still behaving like petulant children, "People's lives are at stake!"

"Fine. Save her without me. Just don't drag me into..."

"No! We're bringing you along with us! The petty disputes between your tribe and hers is no different from a spat between two children! And I need both of your tribes to get over it! You're coming with us and that's final!"

Krystal's fiery tone intimidated Tricky into complete silence. Then he just said, "Yes, ma'am."

"Good." The group then progressed further along the cliffs surrounding Cape Claw. They spotted a somewhat cut-off bridge and a Fire Blast switch nearby. Krystal shot at it with her FIre Blast, and the bridge extended so that the group could cross it. They continued walking down the slope, leading to a stone walkway, then walked along the stone walkway and down a ramp leading to the beach. Fox noticed that the waters of Cape Claw looked beautiful and felt it would be wonderful to swim in them, but he kept those thoughts to himself. He and his teammates had a Queen to rescue.

As soon as the group finished walking down the ramp and onto the beach, they walked right up to the bars of the cell Fox noticed earlier. They could see the CloudRunner Queen trapped in her prison, terrified and battered. But the Queen had a reaction of relief upon seeing the group. "K… Krystal!? You're alive!"

"We're here to save you, your majesty," replied Krystal.

"Krystal! Thank the Krazoa Spirits you're okay! I was worried you may have been killed! But why is Kite not…" The Queen started to worry again. "What happened to Kite!? Is he alive!?"

"Yes, your highness. He is alive." The Queen expressed a sigh of relief. But Krystal clenched her fist, tightly before saying, "But a group of SharpClaw soldiers have captured him." The Queen's eyes and mouth widened in terror. "I tried to rescue him, but there were just too many of them. You're not alone in fearing for his safety, your excellency."

Fox decided to intervene. "Excuse me, your majesty, but you mind telling me what happened here? Why would General Scales lock you in here?"

The Queen smiled. "It appears as though Krystal has a new partner now. And your name is..."

"It's Fox. My name is Fox McCloud. Now, what did Scales want with you?"

"He has a harsh grudge against the other tribes of Sauria. Especially the two most powerful Tribes; the EarthWalkers and the CloudRunners. He would do anything to crush them under his heel. If the injuries on my body are any indication, he is even more than happy to resort to torture if given the chance. Peasantry, royalty, they mean nothing to him aside from how drastically the tribe's morale plummets. As well as that, in addition to being their queen, I am also the GateKeeper of CloudRunner Fortress. Scales saw this and used my powers to open a path to the CloudRunner Fortress. I must return there to help my tribe."

Krystal kneeled in reverence. "We'll get you out of there, your majesty. Come on, Fox. Let's look for a switch that opens up her cell."

Fox replied, "Got it."

Krystal pointed to a wooden walkway next to the stone walkway they passed by earlier. "I think there's a switch over there that might help us free the Queen."

Fox pointed to a cave close to the Queen's cell. "Or maybe the switch is in that cave over there."

Tricky snidely remarked, "Count me out. That hag can rot in her cell for…"

Krystal quickly growled at Tricky, her muzzle retracted back, baring her very sharp teeth, her eyes widened and turned bloodshot. Tricky whimpered and took a few steps back. He knew that if Krystal got angry, there was no use in talking back to her. In fact, doing so could be dangerous. He knew his place. Krystal quickly calmed down and turned back to the Queen saying, "Pardon us, your majesty, but I forgot to tell you. We brought an EarthWalker youngling with us. Please forgive his rudeness."

"It's all right. I shouldn't be too surprised if an EarthWalker were to slander me like that. His father has probably been saying bad things about me."

"Oh, yeah. _Wonderful_ parenting," said Fox sarcastically. Then with a straight tone, "I agree with Krystal. Your tribes need to set your disputes aside, especially now that we are facing a common foe. All right, Krystal, let's split up to find the switch to the Queen's cell."

"Let's do this, Fox."

"And Tricky's coming with me."

Tricky was baffled. "You're serious!? You're expecting me to help you free the…"

"Yes!" Fox snapped. "Maybe you didn't hear Krystal when she said that the tribes need to cease their squabbles and work together to help us save the planet. Is that clear?"

Tricky was intimidated into silence yet again. "Yes, Fox. Perfectly clear."

"Good. Let's move out!"

* * *

Krystal walked along the stone ramp that led her and the rest of the group to the sandy beach where they met the CloudRunner Queen, then walked on the wooden walkway to her right. She climbed a ladder at the end of the walkway and turned to her right, and noticed a switch where she could use her staff as a lever. She took a quick glance at a stone door on the opposite side as the switch, which had a picture of a SharpClaw on it and a stone tile in front of it with two glowing spots on it. She payed it no heed, and used her staff to activate the switch, then noticed a gateway nearby the cell open up. She was amazed at what she saw. She slid down the ladder and used her telepathy to communicate to Fox what she saw.

* * *

Fox and Tricky walked into the cave next to the Queen's cell. Fox noticed a suspicious patch of dirt and asked Tricky to dig it, thinking that a key might be there. Tricky dug up the hole and found a few fuel cells. Fox put them in his backpack thinking that they might come in handy. Then he looked to his right and noticed a strange-looking door and wondered about it. The door was purple, with a cybernetic-looking design to it, with a circle in the center that had a black hole in the very center that appeared to be an opening for Fox's or Krystal's staff. Fox tried putting the tail end of his staff into the hole, then he tried twisting it. It didn't work. It frustrated Fox, but then he thought, _Maybe Krystal would have better luck if she were to try it._

Suddenly however, he heard Krystal's voice in his mind. _Fox! Look at this. I found something. Run up the stone ramp to where I am._ Fox dashed out of the cave and across the beach and up the stone ramp, then turned to his right and found Krystal on the wooden walkway. "All right, Krystal, what did you find?"

"The switch I activated up there opened that gate. I think it leads to where saving the CloudRunner Queen."

"Well, let's go then!" The trio hopped to a nearby platform and ran along the cliffside into the tunnel into a large circular room with four blocks surrounding a square pillar in the center of the room. They didn't see anything particularly special in the room. "You sense anything, Krystal?"

"I don't think so. I think if we…" But then the stone door closed behind them. Fox gasped in terror after the door was shut and the four blocks in the center of the room moved from their initial spots and into the corners of a blue square grid in the center of the room. Green gas started entering the room from the four spaces next to the square pillar.

Fox coughed. "Crap. Poison gas. Krystal. Lend me a hand here!" He made a mad dash to one of the blocks in the room and pushed it so that it would be in front of the pathway in front of the gas vent. Krystal ran up to another block and pulled it in front of the pathway to one of the other vents. Fox and Krystal then pushed the blocks onto two of the vents with all their strength and finally got them clogging up two of the vents, preventing any more gas from leaking out of them. The two vulpines dashed two the other two blocks and performed the exact same actions on those. As soon as the last two vents were plugged up, gas stopped entering the room. Fox and Krystal breathed a sigh of relief. "Now that was a close call. Now if only there's a way in this room to unlock that cage."

Krystal looked around the room, but then quickly spotted a yet another lever switch for her staff. She activated the switch, opening both the stone door to the room, and the bars down below. She sensed that the bars were open and the Queen was safe. "We did it, Fox. Now let's go back down there and talk to the Queen."

* * *

Fox and Krystal dashed out of the tunnel and headed back down to the beach where they met up with the CloudRunner Queen. The queen limped onto the beach, weary from the torture that the SharpClaw soldiers have subjected her too. Krystal and Fox dashed down to the beach where she lay limping with Tricky staying up at the stone ramp, keeping his distance from the Queen. As soon as Fox and Krystal approached the Queen, the Queen coughed, "Fox… Krystal… Thank you so much for…" But she coughed again, before she could finish.

Krystal placed her hands on the Queen's body and closed her eyes. Her hands started to glow as energy from her started to flow through the Queen's body. The injuries on the Queen's body started to close up, and all the pain she felt started to vanish. As soon as the Queen was completely healed, Krystal took her hands off the Queen. The Queen, now healed, hugged Krystal, saying, "Thank you again, Krystal. You're truly a hero among us."

"You're welcome, your majesty. Anyway, I have something urgent to report."

"Proceed."

"When Kite and I entered Krazoa Palace, we discovered that the EarthWalkers that have been stationed there have been attacked by some unknown enemy. Only two of them survived, and I was barely able to help one of them. He said to me that General Scales unleashed a great evil into Krazoa Palace, one so powerful and so evil that the SharpClaw feared it. He told me to find their captain, the other survivor. When I found him, he told me that he was the one who sent the distress signal and that he was hoping it would reach Corneria.."

Fox had something to say. "General Pepper told me about the crisis on Sauria before I took off, so maybe it did reach Corneria."

"The dying EarthWalkers told me that General Scales unleashed a being of pure evil into Krazoa Palace, one that was able to frighten the SharpClaw. After releasing the first Krazoa Spirit, I was attacked by that same evil being, and it was the same one that destroyed my homeworld, Cerinia. The lone surviving EarthWalker sacrificed his life to save mine and I barely fled with my life. Kite and I tried to report all of this to you but CloudRunner Fortress was already lifted from the earth and floating up there in the sky. I attempted to use my shuttle as a means of reaching you so I could report to you, but I was attacked by SharpClaw soldiers and they hijacked my shuttle and abducted Kite."

The Queen looked down pensively. "I see. It seems like the situation is even more dire than I thought."

"We're coming with you to CloudRunner Fortress. If there is anything you need our help with, we'll gladly provide it, your majesty."

Fox stepped in. He typed a program into his wrist-bound PDA summoning his Arwing to Cape Claw, targeting a waypoint on a stone platform in front of a large statue of a Krazoa Spirit. "We'll also need that SpellStone so we could bring the planet back together. We've already recovered the first one and put it back into the Force Point Temple, but we need the last three as well as the Krazoa Spirits. The planet depends on it, so we'll help you out."

"I am truly grateful to the two of you. Thank you so much." The Queen started flapping her wings and ascended into the air. "I'll meet you at the Fortress. Good luck!" The Queen flew off into the sky and a blue light enveloped around her. She flew up into the sky, leaving behind what looked like a giant portal in the air.

The Arwing landed. The two foxes walked up to Tricky to get him ready. Fox said, "All right, Tricky. Ready to head off to CloudRunner Fortress?"

"Are you kidding me!? You expect me to gladly walk into CloudRunner territory!? Nuh uh! No way!"

Krystal felt irritated yet again. "Oh, I'm sorry, did my advice do nothing to convince you to set your petty squabbles aside for the…"

"Krystal, please stop."

"But Fox…"

"I'm sorry. But while the Queen is willing to tolerate Tricky's presence, a favor that I agree that he _should_ start repaying…" he gave Tricky "the look" as he said that, but then stopped while saying, "...I believe that the other CloudRunners are willing to peck away at him the moment they see him. I suppose that letting him stay behind might be for the best. We'll drop him off at ThornTail Hollow before heading off to CloudRunner Fortress."

The group approached the Arwing and Fox activated the opening of the cockpit. Krystal hopped into the space behind the pilot's chair, then Fox hopped into the chair itself and buckled up. "All right Tricky, since we think it's a pain to walk all the way back to ThornTail Hollow just to get to the Arwing, I'm gonna use it to drop you off at ThornTail Hollow before Krystal and I head off to CloudRunner Fortress. Is that alright with you?" Tricky nodded. Fox opened the bomb chute and Tricky crawled inside. After the bomb bay closed, Fox lifted off in the Arwing, elevating just high enough to be in the skies of Sauria, and flew over to ThornTail Hollow.

* * *

Once the Arwing landed in ThornTail Hollow, Fox pressed the button on his PDA opening the bomb chute. Tricky crawled out of it, and as soon as the EarthWalker Prince returned to solid ground, closed the bomb chute and got ready to take off again. "All right, Tricky, now be a good boy and behave yourself while we're gone. All right?"

"All right, Fox."

Fox lifted the Arwing further up into the air, then pointed it upwards while it was high enough above the ground, and soared into the starry skies above. Off to CloudRunner Fortress they went.


	7. Chapter 23

As soon as Fox and Krystal lifted off into the air, the light on his console started blinking and he pressed the button, displaying Peppy's image on the lower part of the screen. "Talk to me, Peppy."

"CloudRunner Fortress has been attacked by General Scales and his SharpClaw army. It would make an ideal base from which he could rule over the Planet."

"I'm on my way there as we speak."

"Good. One more thing: The fortress stands on ground that is rich in gold and diamonds. Chances are, Scales would want to enslave the CloudRunners just to get his hands on those riches."

Krystal growled menacingly at the thought of Scales abusing the CloudRunners just to satisfy his greed. After calming down a bit, she said, "We'll stop him. I promise."

"Find the SpellStone and save the CloudRunners. Peppy out."

Fox brought the Arwing's nose around to point in the direction of Cape Claw. As the two vulpines flew off, Krystal asked, "So what was it like for you in the Lylat War? What did the Venomians want with your planet back then?"

"During the Lylat War, the Venomians were led by a mad-monkey named Andross, who was originally from Corneria but was banished to Venom for conducting illegal experiments. In his revenge, he led an all-out assault on the various planets of the Lylat System. Katina, Fortuna, Macbeth, Aquas, Titania, all of them were in his crosshairs. Only Sauria managed to remain out of his grasp. Presumably until now."

"This… Andross you speak of doesn't sound any different from General Scales. Do you think the Venomians were trying to use the energy from my planet for one of his experiments?"

"Yes, I do. I'm just not sure what kind of an experiment it may be. Or how it's connected to that phantom that you fled from back at Krazoa Palace."

"It does seem strange indeed. Remember when Peppy said that Sauria had energy flowing from its core that would tear the planet apart if unchecked? Cerinia had that as well and I think the Venomians were trying to find a way to harvest than energy. Maybe that wicked entity that appeared when Cerinia was destroyed was thrived on it or something."

"Well, if four of Sauria's landmarks separating from the rest of the planet are any indication, it won't be a stretch to assume that the same thing is happening to it. If Venom's scientists really are running those same experiments on Sauria, which I would bet on, considering their fighter ships are surrounding the planet, they must have thought it was wise to limit their presence on Sauria as much as possible. Well, nice try. Even after we return the SpellStones and the Krazoa Spirits, I am still suspecting that the Venomians are going to attempt at all of this again. I'd try searching for any base of operations they might have here and blowing it to smithereens, but first things first."

"You definitely seem to have your priorities straight." replied Krystal. Such quotes would often be said with tremendous amounts of sarcasm but Krystal obviously truly meant it. As far as she believed, restoring the planet would have to take place before taking down the ones responsible for breaking it apart in the first place.

"The Lylat war started when my dad was sent to investigate suspicious activity on Venom along with Peppy and Pigma. Unfortunately, a terrible thing happened then."

Krystal looked worried. "What happened?"

"Andross offered Pigma huge amounts of money in exchange for double-crossing Peppy and dad. But unlike every other person who has ever joined the Star Fox team, Pigma has always been a greedy little swine. He accepted the bribe, and lured them into a death trap. In other words, he literally sold them out. Peppy barely escaped with his life, but my dad… he wasn't so lucky."

Krystal gasped at what she just heard. She was too horrified at what happened to Fox's father that she could barely speak.

Fox took a quick glance at Krystal and then looked forward again with a tear in his eye. "Betrayal always hurts. All we can do is just keep fighting." Fox then arrived at the gateway that the CloudRunner Queen left behind and soared upwards into it. They immediately got sucked up into the portal, launching them into space.

As soon as the Arwing took off into space towards the CloudRunner Fortress, Fox noticed segments of a few platforms that appeared to be part of a temple's architecture, then looked forward at what appeared to be floating segments from a building, particularly a temple. Fox cringed in disgust as to him, this meant that the planet's destruction was occurring at a more alarming rate than he suspected. As they approached a large floating temple in space with its roof missing, a few Venomian attack drones were floating in front of it, firing at him. Fox quickly dodged the shots and shot at the center drone, and after blowing it up, passed through the door to the temple, and was flying through what was a staircase in the temple turned horizontally by gravity, making it more like a tunnel. After they passed through it, they were ambushed by a swarm of Venomian fighters, but Fox, taking advantage of the fact that Tricky wasn't in the bomb chute this time around, launched a bomb into the middle of the group of Venomian space ships blowing all of them up simultaneously. They flew through a floating ruins hall, past a CloudRunner statue and into a tunnel through an extremely large chunk of rock, almost as large as a cliffside after blowing up some mines that were right in front of it with his lasers. As soon as they left the tunnel, they hovered above some rocky slopes, blowing up more mines, then as soon as another swarm of Venomian fighter ships charged up a laser for another shot and locked on to the one in the center of the group, then launched another bomb, taking all of them out in one shot.

Krystal was amazed. "And I didn't even need to remind you. You must have good instincts."

"So do you apparently. Maybe I should let you into the StarFox team when this mission is complete."

"I'll only join if you kiss me. But that can wait until we've accomplished the mission at hand."

Fox continued flying the Arwing through temple debris, and just before exiting yet another staircase tunnel, noticed an asteroid hurtling by and hit the brakes until it has already passed by. As soon as it finished passing by, Fox kicked the Arwing to full throttle, dodging the incoming mines and soaring through the ruins. Fox spotted what appeared to be a building on top of a mountain floating out in space. "I think I see CloudRunner Fortress. All right, Krystal, let's head there right now!"

"I hope Kite is being held there. The sooner I free him, the better."

Fox dashed through the portal leading to CloudRunner Fortress, ready to snag the second SpellStone and bring Sauria back together again.

* * *

The Arwing hovered above a large, circular platform with a cyan ring around it and a cyan picture of a CloudRunner in the center, laying over a pool of water, connected directly to a bridge leading to the Fortress. Fox slowly brought the Arwing down hovering just slightly above it, then landed on the platform. He popped the seal on the canopy and vaulted out of the cockpit with Krystal following him soon afterwards. They were glad that their landing spot was not nearly as dubious or unsafe as the one from the DarkIce Mines.

The CloudRunner Queen flew onto one of two large cyan CloudRunner statues in front of them on the sides of the bridge. "Welcome to CloudRunner Fortress. I'll fly ahead and check if it's safe. Meet me inside." She took off and soared into the Fortress.

Fox and Krystal walked along the bridge leading to the Fortress. They were amazed by the architecture of it all. The borders on the sides of the bridge had rich soil where they grew flowers and cherry blossom trees, the latter of which left Krystal astonished. The statues of CloudRunners looked beautiful as well. To Krystal, CloudRunner Fortress was like a new home to her ever since she arrived on Sauria. She started living with the CloudRunners, befriended Kite, and became sort of a knight-errant for the Queen. She loved this place, and was eager to reunite it with the rest of the planet. When Fox and Krystal reached the end of the bridge, the gate leading to CloudRunner Fortress was closed. Fox tried to open it by rattling the gate repeatedly, but to no avail. "Drat. The gate is locked. Should I try to bust it open?"

"As long as you don't damage the gate."

Fox pushed on the gate with all his strength and all of a sudden, the gate flung wide open. He and Krystal entered inside. When they did, two SharpClaw started charging at them, but the two vulpine warriors drew their staffs and charged at the SharpClaw with reckless abandon, attacking each one relentlessly until they finished them off. With the two SharpClaw dead, Fox and Krystal started ascending up a spiral staircase leading to the Fortress.

As Fox and Krystal dashed up a spiral pathway leading to the Fortress, a robotic sentry probe descended from the ceiling. It was a metallic grey with yellow spots on each side. The probe shot two bolts of lightning out of it, one aimed for Fox and the other aimed for Krystal. The two were hit by the electric shocks and started stumbling and wincing in pain. Krystal quickly used her staff's barrier to shield herself from another electric shock, while Fox activated a device attached to his belt called a Reflector. The Reflector formed a blinking hexagonal barrier around him. The electrical bolt that hit Fox reflected back at the drone, stunning it, giving Fox and Krystal enough time to make a run for it. He yelled, "Come on, Krystal, let's go!" And they dashed further up the stairs. After going up a bit higher, another drone appeared and Fox and Krystal used their same defenses again. Once they finally reached the top of the stairway, Krystal asked, "How did you do that?"

Fox showed Krystal a small mechanical contraption on his belt. It was a hexagon of a yellow-ish metal with a cyan center, with some black at three of the sides. "It's a reflector designed by Cornerian military scientists for ground combat. It's basically meant to redirect projectiles at an enemy, and more or less the only bit of Star Fox weaponry I'm actually allowed to bring along for this mission. General Pepper said I should leave my firearms back on the Great Fox so as not to scare the natives of Sauria as they are already in a deep crisis."

"I see."

"Anyway, let's get going. It's time to take down a certain _other_ general."

"Okay."

* * *

Fox and Krystal walked through the doorway into what appeared to be the entrance to a courtyard. However, a large amount of the courtyard was blocked off by rubble with openings large enough for Fox and Krystal to walk through, but they decided to hold back for now. Instead, they spied through the rubble to see what was happening in the courtyard. They saw a group of SharpClaw soldiers on an elevated platform in the center of the yard including one larger SharpClaw among them. He was clad in form-hugging leather armor, a horned helmet on his head, and bore a large sword sheathed at his side. His right hand had been replaced by a two-pronged metal claw. Krystal whispered to Fox, "That's him! That's General Scales!" Fox could clearly see the anger and hatred in Krystal's eyes. She wanted General Scales to pay for every act of cruelty he committed upon the good denizens of Sauria.

* * *

General Scales stomped his foot onto the CloudRunner Queen's wing, causing her to wail in pain. "You should have stayed in your cage like a good girl, queenie, and accepted your comeuppance for what your kind has done."

The Queen coughed. She struggled to speak. "I don't know what you're talking about…"

"But then why would your elders ever tell you about our suffering? Very well. Allow me to remind you. Long ago, your ancestors cursed us with the stigma that we are nothing more than savage barbarians and treated us accordingly. And not just _your_ tribe. The EarthWalkers, LightFoots, ThornTails, SnowHorns, even the HighTops treated us like unwanted vermin and made us into outcasts, left to wander the wildlands forevermore. You all grew fat as my kind withered to the bone. The famines we endured, _**culling**_ our own just to escape starvation. I learned to walk on their eggshells. I grew tall and strong but they never had a chance to be! In a place of torment, so much like a festering wound, and just beyond us were these paradises that were never ours to venture to. So said the old laws..." He grabbed the CloudRunner Queen by the throat and started to squeeze it just slightly so as to put pressure on her without fully strangling her to death. "But I'm DONE upholding the old laws! From this day forth, we are going to take what we are owed! And subject the very tribes responsible for our suffering to to the exact same hell that we have endured!"

"We would have been willing to reconcile with you, Scales… had you not crossed so many lines."

Angered by her statement, Scales swiped with his claw hand at the Queen's wing, causing it to bleed excessively and her to scream in pain. Krystal tried hard to hold back her anger, but as Fox could tell, she might not be able to hold it for long. Her body started quaking in rage, her muzzle retracted back baring her razor-sharp teeth.

"You truly are as hedonistic and narrow-minded as they come, aren't you?" snarled Scales, "I have already told you of the suffering we have endured, and yet you still claim to be poor innocent victims and that we are the ones in the wrong. And it is this ignorance that will drive us to extinction! You would have understood our suffering… had that little Cerinian pawn of yours and her boyfriend not busted you out of your cage!" He slammed the Queen's face into the ground.

"I… I…"

Scales started pressing on the Queen's face with his foot. "I had myself a little run-in with your little pet aboard my galleon. Apparently, it seems as if you have been spoonfeeding her your propaganda, demonizing me and my tribe, making us look like irredeemable monsters."

"Take a look at what you've done and then tell me you're not acting like one!"

Scales growled softly. Then slightly more loudly, then roared in rage. He then stomped on the Queen's face over and over again. "You push us over onto the edge, shoving us into situations that drive us to use force and violence, and then you call us evil for it!? You seek to punish us for doing what _**you**_ have DRIVEN US TO!?" He stopped stomping for a moment, then he turned around and started taking a few steps in the opposite direction, looking in the opposite direction. "Anyway, your insolent Cerinian puppet has teamed up with someone from a distant planet called Corneria. A man who goes by the name Fox McCloud. And the both of them have been standing in my way ever since, ruining my operations and slaughtering my soldiers!" Scales angrily knocked aside his drone and two of his SharpClaw soldiers and grabbed the Queen by the throat yet again. "WHERE ARE THEY NOW!? ANSWER ME!"

"They will find you. And they will destroy you!"

Scales dropped the CloudRunner Queen. "Teach her a lesson, boys!"

The SharpClaw soldiers started beating up on the Queen. Krystal couldn't hold herself back any longer. She jumped out of hiding, and started shooting her Fire Blast at Scales, shrieking her ancient Cerinian battle cry and it seemed like she actually managed to hurt him this time, but it was only a scratch. Scales cringed and screamed as the blasts hit his face, but then one of his drones flew over to Krystal and zapped her with a few electric bolts, causing her to stumble over and drop her staff. Fox rushed over to Krystal's aid, drawing his staff and pointing it at Scales. "Stop! It's over, Scales. Leave the Queen alone!"

Krystal rose back up and picked her Staff back up again and angrily hit the drone with an uppercut and then a downward smash, demolishing the drone. "Your reign of terror ends now! You will pay for your cruelty and malice!"

Scales ordered his soldiers "Enough! Take her away!" The SharpClaw soldiers dragged the Queen off deeper into the fortress. He then walked slightly towards the two vulpines. "The famous Fox McCloud! And the mindless Cerinian drone of the CloudRunners! How nice of the two of you to pay us a visit. Why don't I show you some of our… hospitality?"

Fox stayed silent, pondering what move Scales could have made to subdue them, but Krystal shrieked, "Enough talk! Let's fight!" But then four more of Scales' drones appeared surrounding the two vulpines on all sides. The drones quickly zapped them before they could even react. The electric shocks became too much for them to handle, and they collapsed. They struggled to remain conscious, let alone get back up to continue fighting. Scales walked on over to Fox, saying, "Don't worry, boy, I won't kill you… yet…" But then, Scales briefly noticed Fox's PDA strapped to his wrist. He briefly tapped it with his artificial metal claw, then thrusted it deep into Fox's wrist not only smashing up his PDA and causing it to go caput in an instant, but also causing Fox's arm to bleed excessively and him to scream in agony. The pain from both the electricity in his PDA short-circuiting and Scales' claw digging into his arm was too much for him to handle. As as the pain overwhelmed him, Scales taunted and belittled Fox, but with the translator module going haywire, Fox was unable to understand it. He heard only tiny bits of Lylatian here and there but he mostly heard Scales talk in his original Saurian language. Fox collapsed on the ground, just barely able to hear anything around him, slipping into unconsciousness.

Krystal shrieked, "Fox!" in worry and distress, tears forming in her eyes. She growled at General Scales, shouting, "Scales, you…" though to Fox, with his translator broken, it sounded more like, "Scales, oei…" But then the drones zapped her again until she passed out too.

Scales called to two of his SharpClaw soldiers. "Oei! Rhadw kxojo kne ke kxo tidwoed!" Which meant, "You! Bring these two to the dungeon!"

One of the SharpClaw soldiers instantly replied "Ooj, jah! (Yes, sir!)" The SharpClaw soldiers picked up the unconscious bodies of the two foxes and dragged them off.

Scales grinned and licked the blood on his metal claw. "A'm weadw ke xulo je misx vid fikkadw kxom kxheiwx je misx fuad, kxoo nacc ROW mo ke bacc kxom! (I'm going to have so much fun putting them through so much pain, they will BEG me to kill them!)" He laughed maniacally into the sunset anticipating the suffering of his two new prisoners..

 **Author's notes: You'll have to pardon me if some of Scales' dialogue in the early portion of this chapter sound familiar to those who have read abbystabby's (aka PumpkinSoup's) comic adaptation of Star Fox Adventures, which gave Scales a backstory that gives him a believable motivation for his cruelty, and I've seen comments on the deviantart page praising her for making that decision, so I decided to have that be the case in this version to.**


	8. Chapter 24

Fox and Krystal wearily woke up in their cell; a small room with a large metal door. They felt dizzy and groggy as they struggled to shake themselves awake. They quickly shook their heads to regain consciousness. They kept on struggling to maintain their consciousness. Fox rubbed his forehead due to dizziness. "Uh… my head… You all right, Krystal?"

"Yes, Fox. I think I'm okay."

Fox smiled for a bit. But then he noticed Krystal's staff was missing. He tried reaching for his own, but couldn't find it. "Our staffs!" He felt somewhat panic-y for a moment, but then he calmed down for a moment. He and Krystal sat on opposite sides of the room, looking at each other, leaning against the walls. "That's just great. This whole thing has gone from bad to worse in an instant. We lost our weapons, my PDA got smashed, and Scales has made us his prisoners. The only way this could possibly get any worse is if Pigma Dengar were coming after the SpellStone."

"What would Pigma want with the SpellStone, Fox?"

"Obviously, he would want to sell it at an auction to the highest bidder."

Krystal had a very disgusted expression on her face. She found it sick that someone like Pigma would take something vital for restoring Sauria and use it for his own selfish gain. That he would be willing to let an entire galaxy be destroyed just to get what he wants. "I hope he gets what he deserves."

"After Peppy made it back alive after what happened on Venom, he told me about what happened to my father. And ever since then, I swore to avenge his death. When I became an adult, I became the leader of the new Star Fox team, and my co-pilots were Peppy, Slippy, and the one member you haven't met yet, Falco Lombardi. But after Andross died, Falco left the Star Fox Team and has been off wandering in the galaxy for quite some time."

"Why did he leave?"

"He got a mission request from Katt Monroe, a lone rogue with a band of thugs who helps out the Star Fox team from time to time. But a disagreement came between me and him, and that's why he left."

"Have you ever confronted Pigma face to face?"

"After betraying Star Fox, Pigma joined a group of mercenaries named Star Wolf. And unlike Star Fox, Star Wolf, yes, _was_ the way that most people seem to think of mercenaries. Remember when you said Star Fox was more like knights-errant than soldiers for hire?"

"Yes."

"Well, 'soldiers for hire' sums up Star Wolf almost perfectly. During the war against him, Andross hired Star Wolf to take down myself and my copilots. The rest of the team consisted of a lunatic named Leon Powalski, Andross's nephew, Andrew Oikonny, and finally, their leader and sworn nemesis to both myself and my father, Wolf O'Donnell."

"But why would Wolf hate you and your father?"

"To be honest, I'm not really sure. Maybe Wolf blames him for something horrible that happened to him or something. Maybe he accuses him of murdering _his_ father or any other loved one he might have, but my dad wouldn't do something like that."

Krystal closed her eyes and tilted her head down pensively. She thought it was unfair for a man to be hated for something he wasn't responsible for.

Fox asked, "Apart from that phantasm back at Krazoa Palace, do you have a sworn nemesis?"

"I've had a few for a while. Like I said before, some of the people I encountered after Cerinia was destroyed made attempts to manipulate and/or hurt me. They ranged from sleazy womanizing lords and kings who just wanted to add me to their harems, to desperate militants who wanted to use me as a weapon in their battles, to people with a terrible grudge against Cerinians who wanted to lure me into a death trap, to scientists who wanted to run experiments on me so they could find out how I obtained my powers, to power-hungry tyrants attempting to turn me against the very innocents I've been fighting to protect. But thanks to my telepathic abilities, I was able to catch them at it fairly quickly, which often led to me either confronting them head-on, or if I needed them to accomplish any goal I might have, turning the tables on them and manipulating them instead."

"Wow! That's incredibly impressive!"

"To be honest, actually, the destruction of Cerinia wasn't the point where I decided to stop upholding our tribe's laws of not diving into the minds of others unless we had a good enough reason for it."

"What did lead to that decision?"

"Not long after fleeing Cerinia, I received a distress signal from one of the nearby planets from a lord and his advisors who were being attacked by a group of criminals and needed my help. I thought that they were just a group of innocent people who were attacked by an unjust group of criminals, and I thought I was helping them out. But after a few confrontations with the rebellion, I realized that the armies that I sided with were the true villains who oppressed and enslaved the people they were supposed to protect and the 'criminals' were just the innocent citizens fighting back. Then I changed sides and started helping them out instead, and killed the evil lord. I also learned that they were planning on disposing of me as soon as I gave them what I wanted. The innocent people that I protected hailed me as a hero, and I stayed with them to celebrate their freedom, but I couldn't stay for long. I knew they were good people, and I was glad to see justice be done, but I still had a mission to do. So I bid them farewell and left. But from that point on, I decided to always use my telepathy to check the intentions of everyone around me, as I was nearly tricked into going against my beliefs, values, and ideals. At the same time, however, I knew that if more people knew about my telepathic abilities, they would see me as a threat and try to hurt me just to keep me from having this power. So, I kept my power a secret from everyone around me. Except you."

"Well, I'm glad there were some people you met that trusted you and would like to be your friend."

"You're right. There were. But I wanted to find out what dark secrets the Venomians were willing to kill my mother just to protect. And I didn't want to be distracted from that goal. And it broke my heart because some of the people I came across during my travels sympathized with me and wanted to be my friend. I wanted to be their friend too, but I was afraid that being their friend would distract me from my ultimate goal and put other planets at risk, or put _them_ in danger if I decided to bring them along, so I had no choice but to tearfully say goodbye to them. Unfortunately, there were also some that were afraid of Cerinians for their powers and kept their distance from me. Or, they thought that I was a barbarian because I dress so skimpily. And it saddened me because some of those people were oppressed innocents that I wanted to help out. Upset that anyone would be willing to reject salvation, I would even have loud angry arguments with some of those people Depending on how they treated me, I would either help them from the shadows without them knowing it, or just leave them to die. Two or three of those times, they even tried to attack me, so I had no choice but to fight back."

Fox's eyes widened in shock. That was an incredibly harsh story. He was outright horrified that anyone could possibly turn against a potential savior to them, let alone do something outright cruel to her. Upset and horrified by what he just heard, Fox angrily shouted, "But why would they do that!?"

"Because they didn't believe me. They thought I was a spy for the horrid warlords and tyrants they were fighting against. At one point, when I tried to help one such group of rebels against an evil emperor, they, out of fear that I was working with the enemy, turned against me in an instant and tried to drive me away. I had loud angry arguments with them, but two of them grabbed me by the arms. Then, their leader started belittling me and disturbingly stroking my midriff with one hand, and my leg with the other. Even without reading his mind, I knew exactly what he planned on doing to me, so I surged my psychic energy into him, causing him to stagger and writhe in pain until his head exploded. And then, I just lost it. I broke free from his guards' grip and when the rebels started attacking me in an attempt at revenge, I went on a killing spree, and slaughtered them like cattle. None of them survived afterwards, then I fled before other factions could have a chance to retaliate. I went back to my ship and fled the planet as quickly as possible, but after leaving the planet's atmosphere, I just broke down and cried. I always believed in protecting the weak and fighting those abusing their power. But to see that the very people I meant to protect could be so… evil… and that I would end up slaughtering the very people that I intended to protect… that _I_ would do something so evil just to stay alive... it just broke my heart. I looked ahead and never turned back. The tyrant on that planet meant nothing to me anymore. If the people he oppressed were going to be as bad as him, I didn't care what happened to them."

Fox glanced downward and put an upset, angry look on his face. Krystal immediately knew that he was angry with the rebels for how they treated her. He knew what that rebel leader wanted to do to Krystal and it disgusted him to the core. To him, a person Krystal declaring as an enemy doing something like that to her was unforgivable to begin with, but someone she wanted to help doing that to her? Unforgivable doesn't even begin to describe it.

"On the upside, Fox, that only happened to me once. Most of the others that feared me either tried to drive me away, or were nice to me just because they thought I would kill them if they weren't, or reluctantly accepted my help in exchange for me leaving them afterwards. Most of them, thankfully, were in that last category, and even some of them treated me with gratitude. And there were some that didn't care who or what I was; they just wanted a savior, and were happy to let me be their messiah. In fact, most of the people I helped out and protected were thankful for my services."

Fox breathed a sigh of relief. "And at least the CloudRunners were nice to you."

"Yes, they were. They welcomed me into their family with open arms and didn't see me as a pawn for their agenda. And that incident I told you was the only time someone actually attempted… that… with me. There were a few times where I came across someone who merely _intended_ something like that with me, but I beat them to a pulp before they could even get started on trying it. And there were a few others that didn't attempt to violate me, but they did attempt to seduce me, but I used my charm to manipulate them and play them like fiddles."

"That sounds really awesome, Krystal! Seeing you give them a taste of their own medicine would have been wonderful to watch."

"You're right. It would have. I have taken advantage of my desirability many times in the past."

"You know, I think I have a story similar to the one you just told me, Krystal."

"You do?"

"Sometime after the war against Andross, I think three years afterwards, I received a distress signal from a distant planet. I thought that the people sending it needed my help, so I swooped in to offer assistance. But as soon as the people sending the signal knew who I was, they shot down my Arwing and captured me. At first I thought that they were a bunch of thugs who used the distress beacon as a set up just to ambush me, but no. Their plight was real. They just blamed me for it."

Krystal felt terrified. "They what!?"

"It turned out that those people depended on Andross for their economy and livelihood. They thought he was some kind of savior to them. I tried to tell them that it was all a facade. That Andross was a madman taking advantage of their strife and helping them just to manipulate them, which he was, but they wouldn't listen to me. I kept telling me that I was there to help, but they kept telling me that I was the reason they needed help in the first place. As far as they were concerned, I was the one that put their livelihood in shambles, so they abducted me and strapped me to a chair. Unfortunately, the chair turned out to be an electrical torture device and they kept electrocuting me just because they wanted me to suffer for tearing their way of life apart."

Krystal covered her mouth in terror. At least she managed to evade the horrid fate that those corrupt rebels intended for her back in her story. She too became angered by the fact that anyone in danger could reject Fox's help. She read in his mind how angry he was that her help was rejected by some, and she outright related to that.

"They tortured me for a day, but then Peppy, Slippy, and Falco swooped in and saved my tail before my mind could even start to break. My team and I had no choice but to fight back in order to escape. Even if it meant killing them. And we barely escaped with our lives"

Krystal replied, "You're right. That story is exactly like mine. I guess I'm not so different from you."

"I kind of figured that we were so much like each other since we first met."

"Oh, you asked me if I ever had a sworn nemesis, didn't you. Well, ever since Cerinia was destroyed, I have traveled around the galaxy battling one power-hungry tyrant after another. And each one I battled felt like an arch foe to me. Like General Scales for example."

Fox smiled. He thought she was incredibly admirable, fighting numerous tyrants single-handedly, and she kept powering on through no matter how cruel the hardships she faced. He felt that she was the perfect woman for him. Not only because she was exquisitely beautiful, not only was she a great warrior, but he could relate to her! He got up and said, "Krystal, when we finish this, when we save the planet, I definitely think I should let you join Star Fox. If you do, you'll never be alone again. You'd have a new home and a new family. And you deserve to be with people you'd be able to trust again."

Krystal felt happy hearing that. She got up as well, saying, "You're so wonderful, Fox. I would love that. But like I said. I'd only join if you'll kiss me."

"Well then, let's have that kiss, then." Fox and Krystal started embracing each other. They closed their eyes. They opened their mouths just slightly and moved slowly towards each other. They could almost taste it. They couldn't wait to experience feeling the interlocking of each other's muzzles. It felt so wonderful to them…

An evil laughter sent a shiver down their spines. Their blissful, sensual mood disappeared in an instant. A cold chill petrified the two vulpines removing any romantic feeling from the room. They instantly recognized who it was. They turned to the cell door and say who it was. It was General Scales who was emitting that nightmarish laugh that chilled them to the bone. He then said, mockingly, "Xen hemudkas. Mo kne cakkco licfado utlohjuhaoj tosatot ke mubo celo roveho kxo0 tao. Xen utehurco. (How romantic. My two little vulpine adversaries decided to make love before they die. How adorable.)"

The vulpines dropped their embrace and growled at him "Scales!" While Fox could no longer understand a word Scales said due to his PDA getting smashed, he knew Scales had malicious intent for them.

"Je jehho ke adkohhifk oeih keisxadw memodk, cakkco wahc. A jiffejo mo kamadw nuj evv. Fohxufj A jxeict xulo nuakot idkac oei xulo vadajxot xuladw oeih hemudkas memodk. Kxuk nuo oeih jivvohadw neict xihk oei olod meho! (So sorry to interrupt your touching moment, little girl. I suppose my timing was off. Perhaps I should have waited until you have finished having your romantic moment. That way your suffering would hurt you even more!)"

Krystal angrily rushed to the cell door. "Nxo uho oei teadw kxaj!? Nxo te oei kubo fcoujiho ad effhojjadw kxo ekxoh kharoj ev Sauria!? (Why are you doing this!? Why do you take pleasure in oppressing the other tribes of Sauria!?)"

"Rosuijo kxoo xulo rood effhojjadw ij! Kxoo khoukot ij cabo lohmad udt rudajxot ij ke kxo xuquhteij nactcudtj ev kxo fcudok! Couladw ij ke tao ev jkuhlukaed eh dukihuc tajujkohj! Te oei opfosk ij ke zijk ussofk toukx zijk ke jukajvo kxoah xotedajm!? (Because they have been oppressing us! They treated us like vermin and banished us to the hazardous wildlands of the planet! Leaving us to die of starvation or natural disasters! Do you expect us to just accept death just to satisfy their hedonism!?)"

"Oei seict xulo khaot ke dowekauko nakx kxo ekxoh kharoj. Khaot ke nehb eik u semfhemajo. Eh ujb kxom ke xocf oei riact oeih end sakaoj. Rik de! Oei tosatot ke jirziwuko udt urijo kxo ekxoh kharoj zijk veh fenoh! Kxo CloudRunners noho hawxk ucc ucedw. Oei UHO olac! Oei'ho de tavvohodk vhem ucc kxo ekxoh... (You could have tried to negotiate with the other tribes. Tried to work out a compromise. Or ask them to help you build your own cities. But no! You decided to subjugate and abuse the other tribes just for power! The CloudRunners were right all along. You ARE evil! You're no different from all the other...)"

"Jacodso! Oei jkacc rcadtco rocaolo nxuk ekxohj kocc oei!? Oei uho cokkadw oeihjocv rosemo u fiffok veh kxo ekxoh kharoj! (Silence! You still blindly believe what others tell you!? You are letting yourself become a puppet for the other tribes!)"

"Te oei olod homomroh nxuk oei'lo tedo!? Te oei xulo udo atou nxuk neict xuffod ke kxo fcudok av kxo SpellStones uho dek rheiwxk rusb!? (Do you even remember what you've done!? Do you have any idea what would happen to the planet if the SpellStones are not brought back!?)"

"A uchouto kect oei; A hico eloh kxo mudo tadejuih kharoj udt mijk sedkhec kxaj fcudok nakx vouh. Ekxohnajo, kxo kharoj ucnu0j kh0 ke vawxk uwuadjk mo. (I already told you; I rule over the many dinosaur tribes and must control this planet with fear. Otherwise, the tribes always try to fight against me.)"

Krystal's muzzle retracted back baring her sharp teeth. "Oloho ekxoh fenoh-xidwho kohudk A xulo vusot juat kxo jumo kxadw uj oei. Kxoo scuam kxuk kxoo uho zijk kubadw thujkas moujihoj ke uleat horoccaed. Rik kxoo uho ucc senuhtj. Senuhtj nxe neict te udokxadw ke jkuo ad fenoh. (Every other power-hungry tyrant I have faced said the same thing as you. They claim that they are just taking drastic measures to avoid rebellion. But they are all cowards. Cowards who would do anything to stay in power.)"

"Jacodso! Nxuk A te ajd'k zijk ke jkuo ad fenoh. Ak'j ke boof mo kharo ucalo udt xocf kxom oluto opkadskaed! Eh uk coujk, kxuk'j nxuk A rocaolot uk vahjk. (Silence! What I do isn't just to stay in power. It's to keep my tribe alive and help them evade extinction! Or at least, that's what I believed at first.)"

"Nxuk te oei moud? (What do you mean?)"

"Hosodkco, A jkuhkot kxadbadw. A houcaqot kxuk kxo meho moujihoj A kubo ke boof kxo ekxoh kharoj ad cado, kxo meho A hid kxo hajb ev kxom horoccadw uwuadjk mo. Udt av kxo0 horoc uwuadjk mo, m0 odkaho kharo aj teemot ke opkadskaed. A tosatot kxuk mo kharo'j opkadskaed nuj adolakurco. Je A tosatot ke kubo oloho ekxoh kharo ed kxaj nhoksxot fcudok nakx ij! Kxuk aj nx0 A homelot kxo SpellStones udt jok Sauria ed u seihjo veh akj ickamuko tojkhiskaed! (Recently, I started thinking. I realized that the more measures I take to keep the other tribes in line, the more I run the risk of them rebelling against me. And if they rebel against me, my entire tribe is doomed to extinction. I decided that my tribe's extinction was inevitable. So I decided to take every other tribe on this wretched planet with us! That is why I removed the SpellStones and set Sauria on a course for its ultimate destruction!)"

Krystal gasped in horror at what she just heard. She was appalled and horrified that Scales would be willing to sacrifice the entire planet just for revenge against the other tribes. She was also angered that Scales would reject peaceful solutions to their strife. She screamed, "Oei medjkoh! OEI OLAC, OLAC MEDJKOH! (You monster! YOU EVIL, EVIL MONSTER!)"

"Oei jkacc rocaolo kxo loh0 thaloc kxo CloudRunner Giood boofj vootadw oei, cakkco wahc!? Oei muo kxadb ev mo uj olac, rik kxo tadejuih kharoj oei boof jatadw nakx noho kxo edoj khoukadw ij cabo tahk ad kxo vahjk fcuso, thaladw ij ke kxojo moujihoj udt fijxadw eih rusbj uwuadjk kxo nucc. Av oei cok kxuk jadb ad, 0ei'cc bden nxe kxo houc laccuadj uho. (You still believe the very drivel the CloudRunner Queen keeps feeding you, little girl!? You may think of me as evil, but the dinosaur tribes you keep siding with were the ones treating us like dirt in the first place, driving us to these measures and pushing our backs against the wall. If you let that sink in, you'll know who the real villains are.)"

"A idtohjkudt oeih fuad udt jivvohadw rik kxuk teojd'k zijkavo nxuk oei'lo tedo! Oei scuam dek ke ro olac, rik oeih uskaedj giucavo uj laccuado! (I understand your pain and suffering but that doesn't justify what you've done! You claim not to be evil, but your actions qualify as villainy!)"

"Kxaj aj opuskco nxuk A nuj kucbadw ureik! Kxo kharoj ev Sauria fijxot kxo SharpClaw ke kxojo moujihoj udt kxoo toximudaqot ij veh ak!? Oei bden nxo no doloh sedjatohot u fousovic dowekaukaed? Rosuijo eih madtj xulod'k oleclot ke kxo feadk nxoho jisx u kxadw neict ro vukxemurco ke ij! A nuj kxo edco SharpClaw nakx ud oleclot madt, sufurco ev jisx kxadwj, rik mo xukhot bdon de reidtj. A nudkot ke fidajx kxo ekxoh kharoj ev Sauria veh kxoah shiocko! (This is exactly what I was talking about! The tribes of Sauria pushed the SharpClaw to these measures and they dehumanized us for it!? You know why we never considered a peaceful negotiation? Because our minds haven't evolved to the point where such a thing would be fathomable to us! I was the only SharpClaw with an evolved mind, capable of such things, but my hatred knew no bounds. I wanted to punish the other tribes of Sauria for their cruelty!)"

" _Kxoah_ shiocko!? A jun nxuk oei tat ke kxuk CloudRunner ed oeih wuccoed kxuk dawxk! Udt muoro A jxeict homadt oei, kxuk CloudRunner nuj u ruro! U RORO! Mo vukxoh hicot eloh mudo kharoj uj nocc! Rik kxo kharoj xo hicot eloh tatd'k horoc uwuadjk xam rosuijo xo tatd'k hico r0 vouh! Xo hicot ro khijk! Xo veiwxk ke fhekosk kxejo kharoj, dek jirziwuko kxom! Udt kxoo celot xam veh ak! Kxoo ceebot if ke xam uj u xohe! Udt ucc kxo odomaoj xo xut noho opuskco cabo oei; senuhtco kohudkj nxe jeiwxk ke urijo kxejo kxoo hicot eloh. Oeih ukkomfkj uk zijkavasukaed xulo de cow ke jkudt ed! Oei UHO olac! Fiho, sedsodkhukot olac! Udt kxuk'j ucc kxoho aj ke ak! ( _Their_ cruelty!? I saw what you did to that CloudRunner on your galleon that night! And maybe I should remind you, that CloudRunner was a baby! A BABY! My father ruled over many tribes as well! But the tribes he ruled over didn't rebel against him because he didn't rule by fear! He ruled by trust! He fought to protect those tribes, not subjugate them! And they loved him for it! They looked up to him as a hero! And all the enemies he had were exactly like you; cowardly tyrants who sought to abuse those they ruled over. Your attempts at justification have no leg to stand on! You ARE evil! Pure, concentrated evil! And that's all there is to it!)"

"JACODSO! A nacc ijo oei udt oeih fhosaeij reovhaodt ke jok ud opumfco ev nxuk xuffodj ke kxejo nxe tovo mo! Kxo kne ev oei nacc xulo ke nuksx xocfcojjco uj oei rekx jivvoh kxo ickamuko uwedo! Fuad je adkodjo, je idrouhurco, oei nacc ROW mo ke bacc oei, zijk ke odt oeih jivvohadw! (SILENCE! I will use you and your precious boyfriend to set an example of what happens to those who defy me! The two of you will have to watch helplessly as you both suffer the ultimate agony! Pain so intense, so unbearable, you will BEG me to kill you, just to end your suffering!)"

Krystal growled angrily at Scales in her sheer contempt. Her eyes turned bloodshot. "Sihjo oei, Scales! (Curse you, Scales!)"

"Oeih fohjajkodso aj utmahurco. Rik feadkcojj! A juat ak edso, udt A nacc juo ak uwuad... De edo sud tovouk General Scales! (Your persistence is admirable. But pointless! I said it once, and I will say it again... No one can defeat General Scales!)"

"Oei'ho nhedw! Fox udt A sud... udt _nacc_ tovouk oei! (You're wrong! Fox and I can… and _will_ defeat you!)"

Scales laughed evilly, his maniacal cackles echoing all across the dungeon. "Odzeo oeih uhhewudso... nxaco oei sud! (Enjoy your arrogance... while you can!)" He walked out of the room, continuing his evil laugh. As soon as Scales left and the laughing died down, Krystal started crying. Fox went up to Krystal to see if she was okay. "Are you alright, Krystal?"

Krystal couldn't stop sobbing over the horrid fate Scales had in mind for her and Fox. "You're wrong, Fox. There ARE other ways this could get worse! We MUST escape this place! And FAST!"

Fox put his hand on Krystal's shoulder. "And we _will_. In fact…" He eyed one of the walls in the cell, the one next to the one with the prison door. "I think there is something suspicious about that wall over there. He started pushing the block on the prison wall, until he was no longer even in the room. He was now in a slightly smaller room next to the cell. Krystal skipped right after him, excited and relieved at the escape route that Krystal discovered. "You're a genius, Fox!" She tightly glomped him like an excited fangirl. Fox chuckled nervously and blushed.

"Thanks, Krystal, but we still need to escape and save the Queen." Krystal let go of Fox. Fox then looked at his now broken PDA in disgust and worry. "Too bad we can't contact Peppy and Slippy for any help."

Krystal obviously had an idea. "Actually…"

* * *

Back aboard the Great Fox, panic was overflowing the crew. Slippy started grabbing his books and stomping all over them when the monitor for his spy drone went static, which meant that the drone got smashed.

Peppy nervously called, "Hey, take it easy, Slippy! We won't be able to find Fox if you lose it like that."

"How am I supposed to remain calm!? We've completely lost contact with him! Who knows what kinds of danger he could be in right now!? Should we contact General Pepper and ask him to send Bill Grey down there?"

"If we run out of drones, then maybe we should…"

But in an instant, they started a voice in the room. A woman's voice. _Peppy? Slippy? Fox and I need your help. Can you hear me?_

Slippy stumbled and shook his head around in panic. "Wha…!? What was that!? Who's there!? Where are you!?"

Peppy may have recognized it, so he wasn't as freaked out. "Krystal? Is that you?"

 _Yes. General Scales smashed Fox's PDA and threw us into a cell. We managed to escape, but now we need another PDA to help us out on our mission. Fox's translator, maps, and communications device are all in a state of disrepair and I had to use my telepathy to communicate with you. Slippy, how soon can you send us the new PDA? Did you store the data on a backup?_

Slippy stammered, "Uh… yeah! Yeah, I did! Peppy uploaded the maps to the new PDA and I stored on it a special disguise to fool the guards here!"

 _How did you know that there would be SharpClaws here, Slippy?_

"If Scales were heading to CloudRunner Fortress, he would be bound to have his henchmen with him. Anyway, the walls are causing too much interference for me to teleport the new PDA, and I'm still working on re-uploading the translator to it. It'll take a while, but you may need to use an explosive to create an opening so you could get the new PDA at all. We'll send it to you and Fox in a care package as soon as you have made it easier for us to confirm your location."

 _Okay. We'll make sure it happens as soon as possible. Krystal signing off._

Krystal's voices no longer reached Peppy and Slippy. Peppy opened the visual for CloudRunner Fortress on his monitor. "Okay. We'll know if Fox has made the opening for us if we monitor the Fortress. Is the new PDA ready for delivery?"

"Apart from replacing the translator module, I'd say it's ready for delivery. ROB, prepare the PDA care package so Fox can have it replaced."

ROB said, "Affirmative."

* * *

Back at CloudRunner Fortress, Fox removed his old, destroyed PDA from his right glove, saying, "Nice work, Krystal! Your telepathy definitely comes in handy in a pinch."

"Thank you. Like I said before, though, they also protected me from manipulation, and they alerted me to whenever people were in danger. But, I did have to keep that power a secret so that nobody would either try to exploit it, or see me as a threat. Oh, you mind taking off your glove for a moment?"

Fox took off his glove. Krystal held her hand to it and the gash on Fox's arm from General Scales quickly healed up. "Thanks, Krystal."

"You're welcome, Fox. Now let's get going."

Fox and Krystal walked through a tunnel that lead to a room with a few cages, and at the very end, a sleeping SharpClaw guarding their staffs. But just before they could go anywhere near the room, Krystal stopped in her tracks and urged Fox to do the same. She briefly noticed a CloudRunner youngling in one of the cages. She thought that she needed to use her telepathy again. She projected a voice in the mind of the CloudRunner. _Can you hear me, Seh-kai?_

The CloudRunner quietly spoke, "Krystal?"

 _Don't talk, Seh-kai. We do not want to alert the guards. I am using my telepathy to communicate with you, so please use your thoughts to communicate with me._

 _Okay, Krystal. I just want to let you know that I'm so glad to see you again. That guard at the end of this room has been beating me mercilessly. I was almost beginning to lose hope. But then you came and…_

 _I understand, Seh-kai. I know you're excited to see me, but please. Until I tell you when, close your eyes and don't make a sound. All right?_

 _Yes, milady._

 _Good._ Fox and Krystal started to sneak their way into the room. They came across the cells in the room. In the cage on the opposite side of the room as the CloudRunner was a two-legged dinosaur as tall as one of the adult CloudRunners, two stubby arms, and a head with thick bone-like features on the forehead. Krystal walked up to him. She whispered softly to prevent the guard from waking up. "Gradabug?"

The dinosaur in the cage turned to Krystal. "Krystal? Aj kxuk… (Krystal? Is that...)"

Krystal was worried that the dinosaur was speaking a little too loudly. "Shhhhhhh… Shhhhhhh…" She whispered, "Ooj, ak'j mo. Rik no xulo ke nxajfoh. No te dek nudk ke nubo kxo wiuht. (Yes, it's me. But we have to whisper. We do not want to wake the guard.)"

The dinosaur whispered, "Ebuo. Jehho. Udonuo, A'm wcut oei'ho xoho. Udt A joo 0ei'ho dek ucedo. (Okay. Sorry. Anyway, I'm glad you're here. And I see you're not alone.)"

"Fox udt A nacc wok oei eik ev kxoho uj jeed uj no sud. (Fox and I will get you out of there as soon as we can.)"

"Whur oeih jkuvv. Rik ted'k nubo kxo SharpClaw. (Grab your staff. But don't wake the SharpClaw.)"

"Ted'k nehho. A xulo u fcud. (Don't worry. I have a plan.)"

Fox looked a little worried. He whispered, "Krystal?"

Krystal whispered to him, "Don't worry. I have a plan. Stay here."

Fox stayed put. Krystal stayed on the side of the room where Gradabug was being held and saw the sleeping SharpClaw at the very end of it. She crouched down and slowly crawled towards the wall like a jungle cat and slowly crawled her way toward the sleeping SharpClaw. She positioned her hands and feet in such a position so that she wouldn't make a sound. The SharpClaw began to raise the volume in his snore for just a second, making Krystal worry that he was waking up. But everything quieted down in a second and Krystal breathed a sigh of relief. She kept crawling towards the SharpClaw and once she got to the end of the room, got up and stood behind him. She prepared her hands to strike, then she grabbed the snout of the SharpClaw soldier and jerked him towards her. The SharpClaw awoke and struggled to call for help, but with Krystal's hands keeping the SharpClaw's mouth shut, that was an impossibility. Before the SharpClaw could react, Krystal wrapped her arms around his throat, and then started squeezing away at it with such fierce intensity. The SharpClaw struggled to breath, much less cry for help, but all that did was hasten his doom, as holding his breath would have preserved him longer. Krystal kept squeezing tighter and tighter. The SharpClaw's eyes started to bulge as it flailed his limbs and then attempted to pull Krystal's arms away from his throat, but to no avail. Krystal put more pressure on the SharpClaw until finally, the sound of a snap was made and the SharpClaw stopped moving. His arms then dropped downward towards the ground and then Krystal dropped his corpse and picked up both her staff, and Fox's. She ran back to Fox, giving him back the silver staff with the red filigree and the red stones at the tips "Here you go, Fox."

Fox took back the silver staff. "Wow… Krystal, that was awesome! Scary, but awesome!"

Krystal giggled. "Why, thank you. I like men who like powerful women." Fox blushed. Krystal then walked up to the trapped CloudRunner. "Ak'j ebuo den. Oei sud efod oeih oooj den. (It's okay now. You can open your eyes now.)"

The CloudRunner opened her eyes. "Krystal! A'm je wcut kxuk oei'ho... (Krystal! I'm so glad that you're...)" but then the CloudRunner looked around the room. She saw that the SharpClaw that abused her and was watching over the prison was now dead. "Krystal, tat oei... (Krystal, did you...)"

Krystal replied, "Ooj. A seictd'k vehwalo xam veh nxuk xo xuj tedo ke oei. A wulo xam nxuk xo tojohlot (Yes. I couldn't forgive him for what he has done to you. I gave him what he deserved.)"

The CloudRunner looked a little tense. Krystal then reassured her. "Ted'k nehho, Seh-kai. A nacc hojsio oei. (Don't worry, Seh-kai. I will rescue you.)" Krystal then activated the two switches right in front of the CloudRunner's cell. The CloudRunner was grateful for Krystal's rescue.

"Kxudb oei je misx, Krystal! (Thank you, so much, Krystal!)"

"A'm ucnuoj xuffo ke xocf. Zijk ro suhovic eik kxoho. Vadt jemofcuso juvo. (I'm always happy to help. Just be careful out there. Find someplace safe.)"

"Ebuo! Rik A kxadb A jxeict jku0 nakx 0ei idkac no xulo veidt ud efodadw. (Okay! But I think I should stay with you until we have found an opening.)"

"Vuah odeiwx. (Fair enough.)"

Unable to figure out what they were saying, Fox asked, "What are you guys talking about?"

Krystal turned to answer Fox's question. "The CloudRunner that I rescued was beaten and abused by the SharpClaw that I killed. And now, we need to create an opening to help her escape. And since Slippy said he needed an opening to send you the new PDA, I'd say we'd be killing two birds with one stone, don't you agree?"

"Good idea. First, we've got to save the other prisoner."

"Good idea," agreed Krystal. Fox then activated the switches on the other side of the cell using his staff, releasing Gradabug. Gradabug then said, "Kxudb oei veh hocoujadw mo. (Thank you for releasing me.)"

Fox scratched his head going, "Uhhhh... " as he was unable to understand a word Gradabug said. "You're welcome?..."

Krystal stepped in. "Fox, this is Gradabug. He is from an endangered tribe of dinosaurs known as the BoneHead tribe." Fox tried to keep himself from laughing. Krystal felt a bit irked, and as soon as Fox noticed that, he immediately stopped laughing. "What's so funny?"

"I"m sorry, but I don't think BoneHead is an appropriate name for any tribe. 'Bone Head' is an insult used at someone you don't particularly consider to be intelligent."

"Well, I did mention how meanings differ from dialect to dialect, but even so, he runs the power plants for CloudRunner Fortress so treat him with respect!"

"Yes ma'am."

"Let me speak with him."

"Okay, Krystal."

Krystal then started speaking with Gradabug. "Fox juoj, 'Oei'ho nocsemo' (Fox says, 'you're welcome.')"

Gradabug chuckled a little. "Udonuo, A'm wcut oei'ho rusb, Krystal. Rik A xulod'k jood xam uheidt. Aj xo don? (Anyway, I'm glad you're back, Krystal. But I haven't seen him around. Is he new?)"

"Oh, um… A mok xam hosodkco. Xaj dumo aj Fox McCloud. Xo'j u vhaodt ev mado. (Oh, um… I met him recently. His name is Fox McCloud. He's a friend of mine.)"

"U _reo_ vhaodt, fohxufj? (A _boy_ friend, perhaps?)"

Krystal blushed upon hearing Gradabug say that. She quickly shook her head and had to get back on track. " _Udonuo_ , Fox udt A uho ceebadw veh kxo SpellStone je no seict hojkeho kxo fcudok. Te oei kxadb oei seict xocf ij? ( _Anyway_ , Fox and I are looking for the SpellStone so we could restore the planet. Do you think you could help us?)"

"Ke vadt kxo SpellStone, oei mijk vahjk uskaluko kxo nadt cavkj. (To find the SpellStone, you must first activate the wind lifts.)" Gradabug picked up something he was keeping on his back. It looked like a navy blue S or Z type Tetris block but with gold and purple boarders at each end. "Kxaj aj kxo boo ke kxo fenoh sxumroh. Kxo fenoh jiffco ke kxo nxeco sako aj tend. Kxojo nadt cavkj nacc edco nehb av oei hojkuhk kxo wodohukeh. (This is the key to the power chamber. The power supply to the whole city is down. These wind lifts will only work if you restart the generator.)"

Krystal then took the key. "A idtohjkudt. Kxudb oei. (I understand. Thank you.)" She then turned to Fox. "Gradabug said that we need to activate the wind lifts. He gave us the key to the power plant so we could restart the generator. Well, Fox? You ready to get going?"

"All right! Let's go! We've got a planet to save!"

Krystal smiled and nodded. She then turned to the CloudRunner. "Veccen ij, Seh-kai. No'cc wok 0ei eik ev xoho. (Follow us, Seh-kai. We'll get you out of here.)"

"A'cc ro hawxk roxadt oei, Krystal. (I'll be right behind you, Krystal.)"

Fox, Krystal, and Seh-kai through the opening on the other side of the room, where the now dead SharpClaw's corpse continued to lie. They then turned left to the hallway, and turned to a door to their left after walking a few feet forward. They hopped downward into a small room with a windy jetstream in the center of the room, a Fuel Barrel on one of the sides, and a switch on the other. Fox looked upward and noticed that above the wind stream, there was a crack in the ceiling. He picked up the Fuel Barrel and placed it on the windy jet stream, and asked Krystal and Seh-kai to stay on the side of the room. He then stepped on the switch, shooting the barrel close to the cracked ceiling, until the timer on it detonated and blew a hole in the ceiling. A probe carrying a package descended from that hole and onto the floor. Fox walked up to it and opened the package that the probe. It turned out a PDA was in the package. Fox put the PDA onto his wrist. He activated it. Slippy's image showed up on the PDA. "Well, Fox, it took you longer than I hoped, but how are you liking the new PDA?"

"It's working great! Thanks!"

"By the way, I uploaded that SharpClaw disguise in case you might need it. And I finished up with the translator too!"

"That's great! Thanks, Slippy! Call you back soon." He adjusted his PDA to set up the translator. Krystal spoke to Seh-kai in Saurian, but after Fox set up the same adjustments as last time, it sounded to him like they were speaking Lylatian.

Krystal said to Seh-kai as Fox adjusted his translator, "Now, take care out there and remain safe."

"Okay, Krystal!" Seh-kai flew through the hole. "Good luck, Krystal! You too, Fox!"

"Good luck to you too!" called Fox back at the CloudRunner. He then turned to Krystal. "All right, Krystal. You ready to take back the Fortress?"

Krystal had a heroic smirk on her face. "I'm ready."


	9. Chapter 25

Fox climbed up the ladder leading them out of the room with the wind turbine with Krystal following him. As soon as they made it to the top, Fox was a bit surprised at who they just came across. "Gradabug!?"

Gradabug spoke to them, and now with the translator back online, Fox could understand him this time, "Hurry! There's no time to waste! Let's get out of here!"

"Did you follow us all the way here!?"

"I did! We need to escape so we could restart the generator and stop General Scales!"

Krystal shot her Fire Blaster at a switch on the ceiling, opening the door leading out of the dungeon. "The door is open for you, Gradabug."

"Good. Now, restart the generator."

"Aren't you coming with us?"

"It's too dangerous for me out there. I need you two to accomplish this."

"It's no safer in here!"

"At least here, I can hide from them. Now, go!"

Fox and Krystal ran off into the next room to reset the generator. The next room had what appeared to be a wind lift, but like Gradabug said, it was shut down. There was a rocky wall leading to a small balcony, but that balcony was guarded by a security drone. Fox stunned that drone with his Fire Blast, then he and Krystal climbed along that wall to get to that balcony. Krystal stunned another drone higher up in the room before she and Fox climbed a second brick wall leading to another balcony, then they stunned yet another drone, then climbed a third brick wall leading them to the exit. They walked through the corridor, turned right, and were back at the courtyard where General Scales abused the Queen earlier.

Fox and Krystal quickly hid behind the fallen debris in the courtyard and briefly saw more of Scales' drones flying by. One of them even flew right in front of them, but was too far away from them to attack, leaving them save from it for the moment. However, Krystal stunned the drone with her Fire Blast, then barked, "Follow me!" to Fox before they quickly turned around that pile of debris and hid behind a few giant SharpClaw crates. They peeked behind the crates and saw that the drone that Krystal stunned earlier was making its way towards them. Fox quickly stunned it with his Fire Blast and the two vulpines quickly dashed to the other side of the garden. There, they noticed a small pool of water, but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw that another done was heading toward them. Krystal quickly stunned it with her Fire Blast, then they dashed right past it before it could react. They dashed to the other side of the courtyard, evading the drones and bypassing the rubble and crates, walking through an opening leading to a hallway. The hall led them to a locked door, with a panel next to it. The panel had a hole shaped in a similar fashion to the key that Gradabug gave Fox and Krystal earlier. Krystal said, "Well, this is it. This must be the generator Gradabug told us about. Ready?"

Fox nodded. He took the key from his backpack and put it into the opening on the wall. The door opened and revealed the generator room. Fox was eager to rush into the room...

...until he noticed that an insipid orange fog was flooding it. He quickly turned back before taking another step. Krystal noticed the toxic gas in the room. "This isn't good." She took a closer look at the mechanism in the center of the room. "Gradabug told me that there are three Light Gems used to activate the generator. Apparently, the SharpClaw must have set up the gas here as a trap to keep us from resetting the generator."

"Unfortunately, we'd have to roam around the courtyard to get those gems and with those drones roaming about, that could be a problem…"

"Well, the SharpClaw disguise Slippy gave you might come in handy here."

"True, but what about you?"

Krystal smirked. She then summoned a cyan aura around her. A flash enveloped around her body, and then cyan light was surrounding it, giving off an ice-cold feel to it. "There. Now the drones will be unable to detect my body heat."

"Smart thinking, Krystal." He then activated his SharpClaw disguise. Strangely enough, upon activating it, he looked like a SharpClaw that for some reason, had the same physical structure as Fox's regular body. He quickly activated his PDA. "Slippy?"

Slippy's image showed up on the PDA. "AAAAGGGHH! A SharpClaw! And he got a hold of Fox's PDA! We're doomed!"

"Slippy! It's me!" Fox deactivated the disguise. "Apparently, you didn't get the likeness right. The face was perfect, but you should have made the disguise look taller and hulkier. More like the build of an actual SharpClaw. Otherwise, that would arouse suspicion."

"Sorry, Fox."

"Just try to gain some more data on what an actual SharpClaw looks like and update accordingly."

"Sure thing, Fox. Slippy over and out."

Fox shut of the com and reactivated his disguise. "Well, at least those drones won't notice a difference with my disguise. Ready to go find those Light Gems, Krystal?"

"Right with you, Fox."

Fox and Krystal stepped into the center of the courtyard to see if they can find anything there that could help us in their attempt to restart the generator. With Fox's SharpClaw disguise and Krystal's body-heat masking aura, getting past the drones wasn't a problem for them. As soon as they walked up to the large pedestal at the center of the courtyard, they noticed three switches on three stone squares on one of the edges, each with a cyan insignia resembling a CloudRunner with a cobalt blue outline around it. Fox pushed the switch on the left side of the pedestal with Krystal pushing the one on the right side. Then Fox pushed the one in the center. After each switch was activated, the two vulpines heard the sound of gates opening in the distance. Fox and Krystal decided to split up to gather each gem.

Fox turned to his right and jumped off the pedestal and ran to the side of the courtyard where the entrance to the generator room was. He turned to his right and approached a pathway blocked off by a flame blocking his way to the room. He used his Ice Blast to put out the flame and as soon as the flame went away, dashed into the next room and found a launch pad for his Rocket Boost. He placed his staff into the Rocket Boost launch pad, and shot his way up to a nearby ledge. Upon the ledge, he found yet another hexagonal container just like the ones he found in the DarkIce Mines. He put the tail end of his staff into it and twisted it around for a bit until the container finally opened. When it did open, a blue diamond-like jewel appeared in it and Fox picked it up and put it in his backpack. He jumped down that scaffolding back to the ground floor, wondering what Krystal has been doing on her end. As soon as he landed back down again, the gate closed. Fox took out the jewel from his backpack and thought, _Is this one of the Light Gems that Krystal mentioned? I hope she has found one._

Meanwhile, on the other side of the courtyard opposite the one where Fox found the Blue Light Gem, Krystal went right up to and then climbed on a large SharpClaw crate right next to the wall and smashed a small crate right on top of it, revealing a switch where she could use her staff. She activated the switch, dropping a suspended ladder down to the floor. She jumped off the crate and climbed the ladder and walked through a corridor. After turning to her right, she spotted another flame blocking her path and put it out with her Ice Blast. She found another hexagonal container at the end of the corridor like the one Fox found, and unlocked it with her staff. She opened the container and found a green gem similar to the blue one that Fox found earlier. She put the jewel between her breasts and jumped off a ledge leading her back into the courtyard, where she met up with Fox.

As soon as they met up, Krystal cheerfully said, "I found a Power Gem. Just two more of these and we can finally reset the generator!"

Fox noticed exactly where Krystal was keeping the Green Light Gem. He didn't know where to be aroused or embarrassed. "Wow. That's a… pretty odd way of carrying things around with you."

Krystal giggled. "Odd, but effective. Any luck on your end?"

Fox pulled the Blue Light Gem out of his backpack, showing it to Krystal. "Yep. Got one too." He put it back in the backpack again.

"Splendid! Only one more to go."

Fox and Krystal reactivated their SharpClaw disguise and body-heat aura, respectively, and set off to find the last Light Gem. They noticed a bunch of SharpClaw crates stacked together in a manner resembling a staircase. They immediately climbed on top of each crate one by one until they reached the balcony above. Unfortunately for them, when they got up there, a few SharpClaw soldiers were already there and they charged at Fox and Krystal immediately. While the SharpClaw disguise was effective in fooling General Scales' sentry drones, the actual SharpClaw soldiers themselves, despite their stupidity, weren't fooled at all. Fox deactivated his disguise and drew his staff and charged at the SharpClaw heading towards him, while Krystal drew her staff and dashed toward the second SharpClaw. Fox kicked the first SharpClaw in the gut before smacking him with his staff so hard he got knocked off the balcony while Krystal leaped above the second and then landed on his face, then backflipped and then launched him into the air with an uppercut, and slammed him back down to the ground before they landed. With the two SharpClaw soldiers defeated, they proceeded across the balcony.

As they walked to the corner, Krystal asked, "Fox, remember when I told you that I spent my entire life battling power-hungry tyrants?"

"Yep."

"Well, to be honest, I was even fighting them before my homeworld's destruction. The difference was that back then, I wasn't alone while doing it. I was part of an entire tribe that did that." Fox and Krystal stopped for a moment. She tilted her hip towards him, suggestively. "See the tattoo on my hip, Fox?"

Fox took a glance at the tattoo on her hip. It was a white marking resembling a spiral with four arrows on each side of it, as if it were a picture of the sun. "I see it."

"That's the symbol of my tribe; the Crimson Sun, a tribe of powerful warriors that protected smaller, weaker tribes from all kinds of dangers. From ruthless warlords, to giant monsters, every time a tribe of innocents were in danger, we came to their aid, and struck down the evil forces that dared to harm them. We allowed the tribes to join with ours just to keep them safe from harm and waged war against any evil that dared to threaten them."

"You're amazing! Coming from a long line of elite champions of justice is something you should hold with pride."

"Kind of like someone _else_ I know." Krystal winked at Fox. He blushed. "Anyway, my father was the king of the Crimson Sun, and he…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Your father was the _king_ of your tribe!? You're a princess!?"

Krystal looked gloomy for a moment. " _Was_ a princess."

Fox didn't need any explanation for what she meant. They reached the corner of the balcony and turned to their right.

Krystal cheered up again. "Anyway, father added many of the other tribes to his own just to keep them safe from any danger. His name was Randorn and he was one of the most skilled and powerful warriors in our tribe. He was very protective of the innocent and had no tolerance towards those that would harm the weak." They reached the end of the walkway, where they found yet another hexagonal container. Krystal opened the container with her staff the way she and Fox did the other two. "As was my mother, Anthymest, who was also an elite warrior." The container opened up. The Red Light Gem was in it. "Oh, look! Another Light Gem! Care to do the honors, Fox?"

"Don't mind if I do, Krystal." He picked it up and put it in his backpack. He and Krystal backtracked along the balcony and went back to the pile of crates. "Now, we got what we need to restart the generator."

"All right! Now we can take back the fortress!"

Fox and Krystal hopped down the crates leading them back to the Generator Room, dodging and stunning the SharpClaw drones along the way. Fox and Krystal arrived back at the Generator Room, ready to put the three Light Gems back into place. Fox wanted to hear more about Krystal's parents, but from where he stood, that could wait. Fox took the red and blue Light Gems out of his backpack while Krystal took the green one out of her cleavage. They both took a very deep breath and held it in. She dashed to the far end of the room, where the pedestal for the green gem was located, while Fox rushed to the one on the right side of the room, with the pedestal for the blue gem. After placing in the green gem, Krystal dashed out of the room for fresh air, while Fox ran around her to the other side of the room to place the red gem in its pedestal. The three pedestals rose from their resting places and shone green, blue, and red energy beams into a white gem in the center of the room, and a yellow gem above it shot a beam into an insignia on the wall. The poison gas was instantly cleared out of the room, and it was finally safe to breath in it. Fox breathed a major sigh of relief. Krystal rushed up to her in happiness, and shouted, "You did it, Fox! You did it!" As soon as she got close to him, the tightly embraced each other and laughed and Fox twirled her around, playfully. As soon as he stopped spinning around, Krystal passionately and fiercely kissed him on the lips. Fox blushed at first, but then felt a lustful bliss within him, and playfully stroked Krystal's back. They enjoyed it while it lasted, but they had work to do. "Now let's go, Fox. It's time to save the CloudRunners and recover the SpellStone."

"And end General Scales' reign of terror once and for all!"

Krystal smiled. Then she turned around and looked up into the sky, shouting, "DO YOU HEAR ME, SCALES!? WE'RE COMING FOR YOU! WE'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR ALL THE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION THAT YOU HAVE CAUSED! PREPARE TO DIE!"

Gradabug walked towards the lift at the end of the prison. The fan beneath the grating was slowly starting to wind up, then it started spinning rapidly. Wind was blowing out from the shaft. Gradabug looked upward. He saw that a few more of Scales' sentry drones were descending into the room. He stepped back in terror, dreading the brutality that were to be imposed upon him… until he saw the drones get blown upwards and crash into the ceiling, and then exploding. He stepped into the lift, laughing. "Fox… Krystal… 0ei'lo tedo ak! (You've done it!)"

 **Author's Notes: Like UndyingNephilim did when she made Star Fox: Event Horizon, I decided to have Randorn from the scrapped Dinosaur Planet resurface as Krystal's father. In the original Dinosaur Planet, he was Sabre's biological father, and he adopted Krystal after taking pity on her after destroying her birth parents. Here, however, he is her biological father.**


	10. Chapter 26

Relishing in their triumph over the SharpClaw, Fox and Krystal left the Power Room and as soon as they left, Fox briefly noticed someone on the other side of the courtyard. Fox took out his Hi-Def Display Device and zoomed in on it. He quickly identified who it was. "It's Gradabug! He made it! Come on, Krystal!" They quickly dashed to the other side of the courtyard to meet up with Gradabug.

Krystal, with Fox right behind her, finally reached Gradabug on the other side of the courtyard. "Gradabug! I'm so glad you made it!'

"I knew you two could do it, Krystal. And I take it you have already introduced me to him, I see?"

Krystal nodded. "I have."

"But now, you two must rescue the queen. She has been imprisoned in her own royal chamber as an example to the rest of the tribe. Only she could help you find the SpellStone. The wind lifts will lead you to the Sky Dock. You'll be able to access the Queen's chamber from there."

"Okay. Thanks, Gradabug. Let's go, Fox. We've got a queen to rescue."

"Right with you, Krystal. You know, I think the area where I found the Blue Light Gem had a wind lift. Maybe we should start there."

"Then, let's!" The vulpine duo dashed to the room where Fox found the Blue Light Gem. The two stepped into the wind turbine and the wind quickly sent them soaring up to the second floor. They floated downward to solid ground and landed in a hallway leading outside.

A trio of SharpClaws from the other side of the hall charged at Fox and Krystal. The two vulpines drew their staffs and prepared for the attack. They rapidly shot Fire Blasts at the two SharpClaw at the front. The attack was effective on the soldiers at first, but then they started blocking the blasts with their clubs before continuing their advance. Krystal drew her staff back and charged up energy in her staff for an uppercut. As soon as the SharpClaw got close to her, she released the energy and knocked the soldier into the air, and then smacked it downward back to the ground before she could fall back down again, and when she did fall back down again, landed feet first on the SharpClaw's back and thrusted the tail-end of her staff into it, causing the creature to scream in pain, then shot an Ice Blast into the third SharpClaw behind the first two, freezing it solid and shattering him with a single strike. Meanwhile. Fox hit the SharpClaw charging at him with a barrage of strikes until the enemy finally collapsed. With all three of the enemy soldiers dead, Fox and Krystal walked through the hallway.

When they got to the end of the hallway, Fox noticed a strange contraption right in front of a closed gate that they needed to get through. Fox looked down at the contraption and the markings on it looked like the feet of a SharpClaw. Plus, the markings had an orange glow to them, indicating that it was a mechanism that requires a SharpClaw to step into it. He activated his SharpClaw disguise and stepped into the device, opening the gate. As soon as the gate fully opened, Fox deactivated his disguise and he and Krystal walked through the gate to the dock area.

"So, Krystal, you mind telling me more about the Crimson Sun?"

"For the most part, the Crimson Sun was a peaceful tribe, only going to war whenever either it was in danger, or when it sensed another tribe in danger. Though we took pride in being warriors, we did what we could to preserve peace and wouldn't make rash actions out of selfishness. Even in times of peace, we did everything within our power to support the smaller tribes that we protected. Whenever a smaller tribe was facing famine, we would try to help to improve their crops. Also, most of the smaller tribes we helped out did have warriors of their own, and they do what they could do fight back, but they don't have as much experience in battle as we do, and their weapons aren't as helpful in combat. Plus, the Crimson Sun had far more warriors in their fighting force, and there's one special trick we pulled off to expand it even more."

"Wow! Um… how did you do that?"

"Most of the other tribes we encountered, both most of the ally tribes we protected and joined with and, with a few exceptions, most of the enemy tribes that we battled, only allowed men to become warriors and only allowing women to take sideline roles. The Crimson Sun, on the other hand, just let anyone of either gender become a warrior. So a lot of tribes were incredibly shocked to see most of the women in our tribe in combat. They were astonished that any tribe could allow their women to take up weapons and send them charging into battle. What surprised them even more was that the female warriors were not only trained for battle, they excelled at it, more so than the warriors in their own tribe."

"Incredible! Teach a woman to fight and you'd be surprised at how strong she could be. Though, the SharpClaw soldiers were pathetically weak anyway."

"Though I have battled a lot of large, terrifying beasts in the past. You should see me battle a RedEye. I think you might find it pretty sexy."

Fox blushed intensely. Krystal chuckled before continuing, "Anyway, these tattoo rings around my upper arms represent my status as a warrior. Most of our warriors have tattoos of this pattern of two brackets around a small dot. They represent ascendence into becoming a strong warrior. Once we pass through training, we have these tattoos around our arms to celebrate our strength."

"But what about that tattoo that's…" Fox stammered in embarrassment.

"...slightly above my butt? Oh, I just thought it would be sexy."

"Okay."

Krystal took a quick glance around the docking area. She quickly spotted what appeared to be something flying about. She tried to get a closer look. "A CloudRunner?" She dashed toward the platform with Fox, following her. As soon as they ran to the platform, they noticed yet another SharpClaw soldier. The SharpClaw charged at them, but Krystal quickly dispatched him before he could get the chance to strike. The SharpClaw was vanquished in the blink of an eye.

As soon as Fox and Krystal got to the platform, the CloudRunner flew down towards them and knelt down towards the two vulpines. "Thank you so much, Krystal. And, uh…" she took a quick glance at Fox.

"Telica, this is Fox McCloud. He's from a nearby planet called Corneria."

"Well, thank you too, Fox. I'm so glad Krystal isn't alone in this battle."

Fox replied, "I heard of what's going on here, so I came by to help you guys out."

"Please. You have to save our mother. She…

"We're on our way to rescue her as we speak."

Krystal added, "I would like you to accompany us while we find her. I want to keep you safe."

"But my brothers and sisters are in danger! We have to save them too!"

Fox said, "We will. Don't worry. Just follow us."

The CloudRunner followed the two vulpines as they passed through one of the rooms on the other side of the docking area. When they walked into the room, they climbed up the ladder leading to a scaffolding close to a window. The foxes and the CloudRunner walked along the scaffolding and jumped across the gap leading to a door on a balcony. The trio walked through the door and then…

All of a sudden, the floor collapsed between Fox and Krystal and fell to an active wind shaft blowing them upwards. After a quick, unintentional glance at Krystal, Fox quickly turned his head away, blushing, with his nose bleeding. Krystal giggled. With the CloudRunner following them, they floated their way to a hallway opposite a locked gate and into a courtyard. They were quickly ambushed by two SharpClaw soldiers but defeated them with ease, much to the awe of the CloudRunner. Because the CloudRunners feared the SharpClaw and couldn't fight back against them, they instantly looked up to anyone who could stand against them like gods.

After the SharpClaw guards were defeated, Fox and Krystal stopped for a moment. They thought they heard a woman crying. They could only suspect one thing… Fox whispered, "Is that…"

The CloudRunner gasped. "Mother!" The CloudRunner flew off to the source of the cries. "Hold on, Mother! I'm coming!"

Fox and Krystal dashed towards a nearby ladder and climbed it one at a time, and rushed over to the platform in the center of the courtyard. There was the CloudRunner Queen trapped in a cage and the child rushed towards it, shouting, "Mother! Mother! Are you all right?"

The queen cried, "Telica! Telica, you're okay! Thank the Krazoa!"

As soon as the vulpines approached the cage, Krystal shouted, "Telica! Stay back!"

The CloudRunner flew backwards for a second. Krystal then rammed the tail end of her staff into the lock of the Queen's cage and electrical energy surged into it. The lock exploded and the cage swung open.

The queen stepped out of the cage. "Fox. Krystal. Thank you so much for rescuing me. But you need to save my children. When I was captured, they became scared. And are now hiding around the fortress" The queen coughed. It sounded like she was in terrible condition

Krystal rushed over in panic. "Are you alright, your majesty?"

"Yes." The queen pushed a small object looking like a seashell towards Krystal with her foot. "Please. Take this. Use it when you hear them. Its call will guide them back to me. If the SharpClaw find them, I fear they will leave the fortress forever, or worse, perish by their hands. And thank you for finding one of my children already."

Krystal picked up the flute. "All right, Fox. Let's do this."

Fox nodded. "Can you detect the presence of any of the CloudRunner children?"

Krystal entered into a meditative state. She tried to concentrate on finding any of the CloudRunner children to see where they were in the fortress. Finally, she picked up on a lead. She woke up from meditation, pointed in a direction, and said, "I found one… and he's in terrible danger! Follow me!" Krystal dashed off towards the CloudRunner child.

Fox replied, "Right with you." He ran after Krystal.

* * *

A SharpClaw soldier was beating up on a CloudRunner child by stomping on its face while it was caught in a net. The child kept on crying and whimpering as the SharpClaw kept attacking it.

As she dashed toward the CloudRunner child so she could rescue it, Krystal snapped at the sight of what the SharpClaw was doing to it. She ran faster towards the ruffian and drew her staff. The SharpClaw grabbed the CloudRunner by the wing when suddenly…

Out of nowhere, Krystal struck at the SharpClaw's jaw with her staff and knocked it feet away from her, causing it to just barely manage to avoid slipping off the balcony. When it got up again, the half-naked heroine was already standing right before him, and she grabbed him by the throat, and held him over the edge. She growled at the brute like a mad beast.

Fox rushed over to the injured CloudRunner and untangled the net it was caught in. He kept scrambling to make it so, but he eventually got the CloudRunner out of the net. "Are you all right, little guy?" The CloudRunner looked frightened, but Fox petted him gently for reassurance. "Easy. It'll be okay."

The SharpClaw panicked as Krystal held him just one hand release away from its doom. The SharpClaw begged, "Please! I'm begging you! Show me mercy!"

A seething Krystal shrieked, "The CloudRunner baby was about to beg _you_ for mercy! You weren't willing to grant him any, so why should I with you!?" She threw the SharpClaw off the ledge as it plummeted to its death, screaming in terror.

Krystal turned around, now calm, and walked up to comfort the crying infant CloudRunner. "It's all right, little guy. You're safe now. Your mom needs you." She touched the CloudRunner's wings and healed it instantly with her power, and then played the CloudRunner flute. The CloudRunner, now fully recovered, flew around, joyfully, and thanked Fox and Krystal before flying off to find the CloudRunner Queen.

Fox replied, "We've saved another one. Any left, Krystal?"

Krystal pointed at the hall at the end. "There's another one at the end of that hallway!" She then dashed along the side of the docking area towards and then through the hallway at the end of the walkway, with Fox following her.

On an alcove in the courtyard, two more SharpClaw soldiers were throwing rocks at a CloudRunner child that was trying to evade them, and the moment the child tried to fly away from them, the SharpClaw fired their net launcher at it, capturing the child and then using the attached rope to the net to reel in the captured CloudRunner to reel the child in so they could begin torturing it. But before they could get started, the two vulpine heroes jumped out of nowhere and started attacking them. Fox drew his staff and started uppercutting one of the SharpClaw and followed that up with a series of relentless strikes, while Krystal tackled the other one and wrapped her arms around its throat, and then squeezed tightly. After knocking the first SharpClaw to the ground, Fox jumped onto its barely-moving body and rammed the tail end of his staff on the top of his head, knocking it out in an instant. He checked to see what was happening on Krystal's end and saw that the second SharpClaw was still struggling and flailing as Krystal kept squeezing away it its neck. The SharpClaw gasped in terror, struggling to breath, but then Fox heard what sounded like a crack. The SharpClaw lay motionless and when Krystal let go of it, it collapsed to the ground.

Fox was left speechless. Krystal was definitely not someone that anyone would want to cross. He decided to wait until she calmed down.

After the SharpClaw collapsed before her, Krystal took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. After she finished calming down, she played the CloudRunner flute. The CloudRunner child thanked the two vulpines and flew to her mother.

Krystal used her telepathy to detect any more children in trouble. She was in a completely meditative state at first, but Fox then saw something that at first made him feel uneasy. He noticed… Krystal was smiling. "Krystal? What are you…"

"It's the CloudRunner soldiers. They are fighting back against the SharpClaws and they saved that last child. He's safe and sound, now. And that's the last of them."

Fox looked upwards. The guards and the child flew above them.

"Let's go back to the queen."

* * *

Fox and Krystal arrived back at the CloudRunner queen, who was waiting for them in front of the cage where she was once held. The queen said, "Thank you so much for saving my children. As promised, here is your reward." The queen flew onto a switch above the cage, causing a nearby gate to open. "Scales has hidden the SpellStone inside the Treasure Rooms. Find it, Fox and Krystal, and return it to the Force Point Temple. Our planet is in your hands!"

Krystal bowed. "We won't fail you your majesty." She then got up and asked Fox, "Alright, Fox, it's time to take back the Fortress, and the stone."

"Right."

As the vulpine duo headed to the Treasure Rooms, Krystal thought, _Scales. The time has finally come for our confrontation. And this time, I will rip out your heart once and for all!_


	11. Chapter 27

When Fox and Krystal returned to the dock area, they reached a ladder that leads them to the Treasure Rooms. Krystal climbed down the ladder with Fox following her soon afterwards. After they descended down the ladder, they walked along a narrow scaffolding to get to the Treasure Room. As they traversed the ledges, Fox asked, "Y'know, Krystal, ever since we arrived at CloudRunner Fortress, there seems to have been bad blood between you and Scales."

"Well, I did say that I encountered him back on his ship while I was on my way to Krazoa Palace. While I confronted him, he started tormenting a baby CloudRunner that he had locked in a cage, and then I tried to stop him, but it wasn't even a contest. Without my staff, I couldn't properly fight him, and if Kite hadn't saved my life, I would have died. Then, as I made my journey throughout Sauria, especially after I met up with you, I learned more about his cruelty and malice, and the horrible things that he and his soldiers did to terrorize the other tribes of Sauria, and worst of all, that he was responsible for putting the planet on the verge of annihilation in the first place. And I just couldn't forgive him for it. I've always hated the ruthless warlords that I have battled. And Scales is no different."

"What other depraved tyrants have you fought over the years?"

"If I named and described all of them, this conversation would go on forever. But to make a long story short, they were vile people who trampled up on the weak and did caused so many innocents to suffer for their selfish ambitions. Some of them were even misogynists who solely see women as devices for procreation and/or personal pleasure. As much as you enjoy my physical beauty, you care about what kind of person I am and you always take my thoughts and opinions into consideration, and you see me as equal to you in every conceivable way. So you're far from misogynistic, so don't feel bad about finding the sight of me arousing."

"Oh, uh… thanks, Krystal."

"We'll talk more later. We've made it to the Treasure Rooms."

Fox and Krystal reached the end of the scaffoldings and went through a narrow corridor leading them to a gate that slowly opened as soon as they approached it. After the gate opened, Fox and Krystal walked through it, but there were two SharpClaw soldiers guarding the room, and the vulpine duo's presence startled them and they charged in to attack them. Fox and Krystal drew their staffs, and countered the attacks from the two SharpClaw and the fight ended before it even started. The vulpines finished off the SharpClaw soldiers before they could even get a scratch on them. Then they walked through the corridor into the next room.

In the next room, Fox was bewildered to find that most of the room had a lot of sand in it. "What's up with all this sand?"

"I think it's there to make the room look pretty and from where I stand, it succeeded on that end. Let's keep going." They proceeded through yet another corridor in the sand room.

Fox and Krystal went through a tunnel leading them further into the treasure rooms and the corridor looked more like a cave. Further along, they found an air vent, and shut it off to proceed, and they ended up at a dark room. Fox took out a firefly from his lamp and they went through an opening in the wall and entered a square room with green torches and a ladder leading down into the lower levels. Krystal headed down the ladder, then Fox followed her.

* * *

When the two foxes reached the bottom, they found themselves in a room with two doorways and elaborate designs on the walls. "These must be the Treasure Rooms!" They quickly ran through the entrance to the Treasure Rooms and into a large chamber filled with golden sand. In the chamber, the two vulpines found a few jet bikes as well as a few SharpClaw soldiers. Much to their disparraged surprise, one of the SharpClaw soldiers was…

"Scales!" shouted the two vulpines as they drew their staffs and charged at the arrogant SharpClaw leader. Scales swiped at them with his claw hand, knocking them back, then turned to one of his troops, shouting, "Get the SpellStone out of here!" Fox started firing Fire Blasts at Scales, but Scales picked up another SharpClaw soldier and held him in front of him using him as a shield, while the first SharpClaw troop grabbed the SpellStone, which had a cyan core and a dark-green shell hopped onto a jet bike and took off through the Treasure Rooms. Krystal shouted, "Fox! Go after the SpellStone. I'll take care of this beast!"

"But, Krystal…"

"I'll be fine! Now go!"

"You won't stand a…"

"GO!"

Fox hesitated. He didn't want to leave Krystal behind to fight Scales alone. Aside from being a voluptuous woman, Krystal was a strong-willed and fearsome warrior with a kind heart and a strong sense of justice. Noble, determined, courageous, Fox liked those traits in her and didn't want to lose her. He also wanted to help her salvage what she could of her culture, and if she were to die, her culture and her species would go completely extinct, and Fox didn't want that. He trembled and clutched his staff tightly.

General Scales drew a large sword and swung it at Krystal, but she blocked it with her staff. As she locked her weapon with the reptilian tyrant, she shouted at Fox, "What are you waiting for!? He's getting away!"

"Fine, then!" With a tear in his eye, Fox hopped onto a jet bike and said back to Krystal, "Promise me that you'll survive. If Scales overwhelms or overpowers you, run. Even if your warrior's pride tells you not to. I'll never permit you to die." He took off after the SharpClaw with the SpellStone.

Scales broke the weapon lock and finished his swipe at Krystal, but Krystal quickly dodged the attack and used Scales' arm as a platform before jumping in the air, kicking Scales in the face and then backflipping back to the ground. Scales staggered as Krystal gracefully moved into a combat stance.

As Scales recovered from that one kick in the face, he let out a sinister, ominous laugh. "Dek rut, cakkco wahc. Rik oei ned'k ro je uhhewudk edso oei xulo jood mo khio fenoh! (Not bad, little girl. But you won't be so arrogant once you have seen my true power!)"

Krystal scoffed, "Ex, oei kxadb _A'm_ uhhewudk? Viddo xouhadw _oei_ juo kxuk. (Oh, you think _I'm_ arrogant? Funny hearing _you_ say that.)"

Scales laughed arrogantly. "Veecajx nemud! U vhuac cakkco wahc jisx uj oeihjocv kxadbj jxo sud tovouk kxo mawxko General Scales!? Kxuk A, kxo mawxkaojk nuhhaeh ed ucc ev Sauria neict cuo jcuad uk kxo vook ev u fund ev ud odkaho kharo ev senuhtj!? (Foolish woman! A frail little girl such as yourself thinks she can defeat the mighty General Scales!? That I, the mightiest warrior on all of Sauria would lay slain at the feet of a pawn of an entire tribe of cowards!?)"

Krystal felt a hot surge of anger. The CloudRunners were like a family to Krystal ever since she arrived on Sauria. They helped her get accustomed to their world, and Kite took her to wherever a dinosaur tribe was being attacked so she could save them. Not only that, Kite risked his life to save Krystal when she was thrown off Scales' ship that night. Hearing Scales mock and ridicule her new family sickened her. She shrieked out her bone-chilling Cerinian battle cry and charged at Scales, leaping into the air and raising her staff, ready to strike at him from above. But General Scales calmly deflected the strike with his sword and took a huge swipe at her with his metallic claw, but she quickly backstepped, dodging the attack. "Oei batduf sxacthod udt hid nakx oeih kuac roknood oeih cowj udt ook oei succ ij senuhtj!? (You kidnap children and run with your tail between your legs and yet you call _us_ cowards!?)"

"Veecajx nemud. Nxod no adlutot kxo CloudRunner Fortress, kxo CloudRunner tatd'k olod kho ke fik if u vawxk! Kxoo jihhodtohot hawxk kxod udt kxoho udt rowwot veh kxoah caloj. Kxoo jihhodtohot ad kxo vuso ev utlohjako... khio senuhtaso! (Foolish woman. When we invaded the CloudRunner Fortress, the CloudRunner didn't even try to put up a fight! They surrendered right then and there and begged for their lives. They surrendered in the face of adversity... _true_ cowardice!)"

"Uk coujk kxoho noho foefco kxuk kxo CloudRunner noho naccadw ke khijk ekxohj! Kxoo muo xulo kxoah voitj nakx kxo EarthWal EarthWalker, but at least they aren't willing to oppress them into subjugation.)"ker, rik uk coujk kxoo uhod'k naccadw ke effhojj kxom adke jirziwukaed. (At least there were people that the CloudRunner were willing to trust others! They may have their feuds with the

"Udt nxuk ureik ij!? Teoj nxuk kxoo tat ke ij dek giucavo uj jir... (And what about us!? Does what they did to us not qualify as sub...)"

"Jacodso! Oeih hoawd ev kohheh odtj den! (Silence! Your reign of terror ends now!)" She charged at Scales again and like last time, only got her blow deflected, knocking her towards the wall, where she quickly backflipped to regain her footing. She glowered at her reptilian adversary as she moved into a combat stance.

"A joo kxuk yei ned'k cajkod ke houjed. Loho nocc… Oei ned'k ro je wcar nxod A fik oeih xout ed u fabo! (I see that you won't listen to reason. Very well… You won't be so glib when I put your head on a pike!)"

"No'cc joo nxejo xout weoj ed kxuk fabo, Scales! (We'll see whose head goes on that pike, Scales!)"

* * *

Fox went after the SharpClaw soldiers on their jet bikes as they raced their way through the tunnels leading their way out of the Treasure Rooms. Unfortunately, they weren't in his sight so far, and Fox didn't want to let them get away with the SpellStone. He prepared to press harder on the accelerator pedal but then, he quickly saw a large crate land right in his current path, so he swerved out of the way before speeding up. He then sped along a downward slope that twisted sideways, hoping to finally catch up to the SharpClaw soldiers that took the SpellStone. He then sped through a tunnel with metallic pipes around, and steered clear of a land mine and a streak if fire leaking out of one of the pipes. And after dodging that flame, he finally caught a glimpse of the SharpClaws turning at the corner. After making the sharp turn himself, he pressed harder on the pedal, dashing right past two large red crystals in the tunnel, and after dodging more mines and making more sharp turns, he finally caught up with the three SharpClaw soldiers, and saw that the one in the very lead was the one holding the SpellStone. Fox then pushed his jet bike to maximum speed, zooming right past the other two SharpClaw and preparing to crash right into the one with the SpellStone. He got ready to strike at the lead SharpClaw, but then the other two SharpClaw soldiers sandwiched themselves in between Fox and attempted to crush Fox's jet bike on each side. After Fox quickly noticed that his jet bike was starting to take damage, he briefly put the brakes on his jet bike before speeding up again, causing the two SharpClaw's jet bikes to crash into each other, and as soon as they crashed, they had to spread out further apart from each other. One of them slowed down just enough so that he was right next to Fox McCloud himself. The SharpClaw attempted to crash right into him, but then as soon as Fox noticed one of the other two SharpClaw deploying a mine to try to blow up Fox, he swerved out of the way, with the SharpClaw closest to him ending up getting in the way of the mine. The explosion from the mine sent the SharpClaw's jet bike flipping in the air and crashing into a wall before it exploded. Fox took a quickl glance back and saw it blow up. The other SharpClaw who deployed the mine gasped in horror when he realized he blew up his own comrade, then Fox smugly smirked at him and picked up the pace to catch up with him.

* * *

Krystal charged at the SharpClaw tyrant with yet another overhead strike from above, yet just as she was about to thrust the head end of her staff onto his face, Scales nonchalantly grabbed that end of her staff and quickly threw his arm to the right of him, causing Krystal to lose her grip and sending her flying against the wall. As soon as she hit the wall, she wearily attempted to get up to regain her footing while Scales casually dropped her staff. He slowly walked towards Krystal. "Row, sxact. Row veh oeih majohurco cavo udt A muo vadt ak ad mo xouhk ke jfuho oei. (Beg, child. Beg for your miserable life and I may find it in my heart to spare you.)"

Krystal growled, "Ro kxo odt ev kxaj vawxk, oei'cc ro kxo edo row... (By the end of this fight, _you'll_ be the one beg...)"

But Scales grabbed Krystal by the throat with his regular, non-mechanical hand, ready to strangle her. Krystal struggled to breath. Scales harshly roared, "A sud'k xouh oei! Jshoum veh mo! Sho udt jxen ij nxe kxo houc senuht aj! (I can't hear you! Scream for me! Cry and show us who the real coward is!)"

But as a warrior of the Crimson Sun, Krystal didn't beg for her life as Scales demanded. Instead, she held her breath, then focused her mind, and brought her palms together, just barely touching each other. Static crackled and built up as she summoned one of her rarest talents; direct manipulation of energy. She opened her eyes and held her palms out in front of her, and twin orbs of sizzling blue-white plasma leaped from her hands into the ruthless warlord's face. Scales staggered in pain and his grip on Krystal released completely and when she became free from his fist, she quickly rushed past General Scales, grabbed her staff, and rushed back over to General Scales. Just as Scales was about to recover from his staggering, Krystal rushed on over to him, shreaking her Cerinian battle cry, and smacked him in the jaw with her staff before he could even react. The blow to Scales was so devastating that a few of his teeth started flying out of his mouth. Krystal then hit him in the jaw again, making him stumble a few steps backwards yet he regained his footing. Krystal then hit him with her staff a third time and a few more steps were taken back, with Scales staggering in more pain. She charged at Scales preparing a fourth strike, but Scales quickly regained his footing and punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground. But before she landed, Scales grabbed her by the throat again, and slammed her to the ground, preparing to attempt to strangle her again. "Oei'lo ucnuoj rood je jkirrehd udt hocodkcojj. A tatd'k opfosk oei ke fik if u vawxk. Rik den, oei tao! (You've always been so stubborn and relentless. I didn't expect you to put up a fight. But now, you die!)"

* * *

Fox sped up ahead, gaining on the second SharpClaw. The SharpClaw tried throwing another mine at Fox, but Fox took out his staff and activated his defensive barrier causing him and his jet bike to remain unscathed even with the mine detonating in his face. The SharpClaw slowed down for a brief moment and once he was behind Fox, sped up again and tried ramming his jet bike into Fox's. Fox slammed his jet bike into the SharpClaw's in return and they kept ramming into each other, hoping to blow each other up. Immediately, they arrived at another cliff-side, where Fox then rammed the SharpClaw's jet bike closer to the edge. The SharpClaw, barely hanging on and barely missing the edge prepared to ram into Fox again, but then Fox rammed into the SharpClaw, knocking him over the edge. The SharpClaw fell, screaming into the abyss below as Fox caught up with the final SharpClaw.

* * *

Krystal held her breath and struggled to reach for her staff as she felt General Scales tightening his fist around her neck. She had to get her staff in order to get out of this situation. Just a little further…

Krystal barely managed to succeed, but she stretched her arm out far enough and then grabbed her staff, aimed it at Scales' arm, and let loose a powerful Ice Blast. Scales felt his arm getting colder and colder and colder but kept struggling to tighten her grip on Krystal's neck, hoping to break it in time, until his arm was instantly frozen solid. Krystal swung her staff at Scales' now frozen arm, shattering it into a thousand pieces. Scales roared in pain, but just as Krystal was about to attack him again, he swiped at her with his claw hand, and she dodged by backflipping. She then charged at him yet again, but he struck at her with his claw hand. The claw created huge slash marks on her midriff, and caused her to scream in pain before he kicked her, knocking her backwards, but she quickly regained her footing. She clutched her staff and breathed heavily, eyeing Scales and standing her ground, heavily breathing. _This isn't good,_ she thought, _Every time I try to attack him, he counters my attack. Even now that he has only one arm, he'll still counter my attacks if I simply charge at him. Think, Krystal, think! He has to have a weakness!_

Scales glowered at Krystal, saying, "Ak joomj A muo xulo idtohojkamukot oei, cakkco wahc. A jiffejo oei uhod'k u senuht uvkoh ucc. Xenoloh, senuhtaso muo xulo akj rodovakj, (It seems I may have underestimated you, little girl. I suppose you aren't a coward after all. However, cowardice may have its benefits,)" and sneered at her, as if he were taunting her into attacking him. "Oei'cc couhd kxuk kxo _xuht_ nuo. (You'll learn that the _hard_ way.)"

Krystal then immediately thought, _No, Krystal! Don't let him goad you! Being reckless will only make you vulnerable to his…_ But then she remembered something. Every time an attack on Scales actually landed, he was already in the middle of one of his own attacks or stunned due to an earlier attack. Krystal had an idea…. "Nocc, kxod A wiojj oei'lo utmakkot ke roadw u senuht, kxod, xulod'k oei! (Well, then I guess you've admitted to being a coward, then, haven't you!)"

Scales sneered even harder at Krystal. "Ted'k oei _tuho_ succ mo... (Don't you _dare_ call me...)"

Krystal started shooting Fire Blasts at General Scales. Judging from how Scales reacted to the Fire Blasts last time, she thought it was a good way to goat him into making a reckless attack on him. And now that she has calmed down, significantly, this means that she will be able to predict Scales' every move, so she activated her telepathy. Scales charged at Krystal, and Krystal's telepathy told her that Scales was attempting a vertical slash with his claw hand. So she side-stepped out of the way, and after Scales' claw-attack missed her, gave Scales yet another uppercut to the jaw, and then due to predicting it beforehand, ducked a horizontal slash that Scales swung at her, and then smacked him with an uppercut, causing him to stagger back. He attempted to kick Krystal, but she quickly jumped in the air and smacked him with his staff again before landing back on the ground again. He made more and more and more swipes at Krystal with his claw hand, but she kept dodging them effortlessly, never receiving a hit. As Scales' attacks kept missing, he thought, _Nxuk'j weadw ed xoho!? Nxo uho mo ukkusbj dek keisxadw xoh!? Aj jxo fhotaskadw mo oloho ukkusb!? Jxo sud'k ro adladsarco! Jxo sud'k ro! Ooj, kxuk'j hawxk. A nuj urco ke fad xoh uwuadjk kxo nucc edso roveho… A sud te ak uwuad! Udt nxod A te, A'cc jmujx xoh jbicc uwuadjk kxuk nucc idkac xoh rhuadj coub edke kxo vceeh! (What's going on here!? Why are my attacks not touching her!? Is she predicting my every attack!? She can't be invincible! She can't be! Yes, that's right. I was able to pin her against the wall once before… I can do it again! And when I do, I'll smash her skull against that wall until her brains leak onto the floor!)_ He threw a lunge attack against Krystal, but she jumped over it, mustered the energy for a Ground Quake, and drove the tail end of her staff onto Scales' back. Scales screamed in pain as he collapsed to the floor. He fell with a sudden thud, flat on his chest. He wearily struggled to get up, but Krystal used her staff to give him yet another uppercut to the jaw, knocking him on his back. Scales lay on his back, barely able to rise up again. Krystal smirked at him saying, "Dek je xawx udt mawxko udomeho, uho oei, General. Av oei najx ke row veh mohso... (Not so high and mighty anymore, are you, General. If you wish to beg for mercy…) She pointed the head end of her staff directly at Scales, "Den aj kxo kamo! (Now is the time!)"

* * *

The last SharpClaw panicked at the realization that this two comerades were now gone and he was all alone. Unfortunately, he had to use one hand to carry the SpellStone, so he felt that there was only one way to evade Fox and make it out safely. He pressed harder on his jet bike in an attempt to escape. Not wanting to let the planet collapse, Fox pushed his bike to maximum speed as well. He kept thrusting harder and harder hoping to catch up to the SharpClaw, but it seems like the SharpClaw was actually moving farther away from him. Fox drew his staff and aimed it at the SharpClaw's jet bike. He took careful aim, but with the SharpClaw moving around so much, it became hard for him to get a clear shot. Immediately afterwards, the SharpClaw took a sharp turn and then Fox attempted to drift in order to avoid crashing into the wall, but he got too close! He quickly rammed the tail end of his staff into the wall and pushed with all his might, giving himself a significant amount of space between himself and the wall. He then quickly regained his footing and put himself back on the SharpClaw's trail, and aimed his staff at him again. As soon as it seemed like he got a clear shot, he fired a Fire Blaster at him, causing his engine to catch on fire. The SharpClaw's engine caught on fire, and the impact caused his jet bike to slow down. The SharpClaw struggled to speed up again, but in that opportune moment, Fox rammed his jet bike into the SharpClaw's, veering him off course. The SharpClaw regained his footing and tried to ram into Fox, but then Fox rammed the head end of his staff into the engine of the SharpClaw's jet bike. The bike accelerated to ludicrous speeds, making it impossible for the SharpClaw piloting it to control it. The SharpClaw screamed in horror right before his jet bike crashed into a wall and exploded. The SharpClaw was dead, his jet bike a pile of scrap metal, and the SpellStone completely unscathed on the ground.

Fox put the brakes on his jet bike until it came to a complete stop, dismounted it, walked right up to the ruins of the jet bike used by that last SharpClaw, the one that was carrying the SpellStone. He saw the SpellStone lying next to the SharpClaw's dead body. He picked it up, and thought, _Well, now that I have the SpellStone, I'd better get back to Krystal. I hope she's okay._ He put the SpellStone into his backpack.

* * *

General Scales was lying flat on his back on the ground. Krystal raised her staff at him, smirking, and said, "Ak'j eloh, General Scales. Houto ke tao? (It's over, General Scales. Ready to die?)"

But with his claw hand, Scales pressed a button on his belt and instantly teleported away, laughing venomously throughout the Treasure Rooms. Krystal rushed on over to him, preparing to strike him with her staff once more, but by the time she swung it at him, he had already disappeared. Upon realizing that Scales teleported away before she could finish him off, Krystal growled like a savage beasted, hissed her ancient Cerinian native tongue's harshest swear word, and shrieked with rage at the top of her lungs. Her seething screams became an ear-bleeding cacophony that echoed through the halls of the Treasure Rooms, disturbing all those unfortunate enough to hear them. Including...


	12. Chapter 28

Fox put the brakes on his jet bike after it came to a complete stop, walked right up to the ruins of the jet bike used by that last SharpClaw, the one that was carrying the SpellStone. He saw the SpellStone lying next to the SharpClaw's dead body. He picked it up, and thought, _Well, now that I have the SpellStone, I'd better get back to Krystal. I hope she's okay._ He put the SpellStone into his backpack. But then, all of a sudden, out of the blue, he heard a disturbing sound. The sound of a woman screaming. A woman letting out a shrill, ominous scream. "Krystal!?" He hopped on his jet bike and turned it in the opposite direction he had been driving it in. "Hang on, Krystal! I'll be right there!"

* * *

Krystal was brought to her knees in an instant, her hands practically glued to the floor. She couldn't keep the tears from coming out of her eyes. She was so close to defeating the villain responsible for all the pain and misery on Sauria and ending his reign of terror once and for all. But now that Scales has escaped, it means that he is still free to cause more suffering and havoc. Krystal felt like a part of her soul had died. She let her perfect chance to kill General Scales and end his reign of terror once and for all slip through her fingers.

As soon as Fox returned to the Treasure Room, he put the breaks on his jet bike and dismounted it. When he saw Krystal, he was ecstatic to see that she was okay, ("Krystal! You're all ri…") but then he saw that she was crying profusely, he became worried. He rushed on over to her. "Krystal!" He bent on over to her. "Is something wrong, Krystal?"

Krystal shouted in melancholy rage, "Something wrong!? Of course there's something wrong! I was so close to finishing off that slimy fiend once and for all and he evaded my grasp, prolonging his reign of terror! Now, more innocents will suffer by his cold, metallic hand all because I… Because I..." She could barely bring herself to speak, causing Fox to worry, greatly.

Fox embraced Krystal tightly. He wanted to say, "Don't worry, Krystal. We'll get him next time." But he decided against it because he thought she was afraid that by the time that "next time" happens, Scales would have caused more suffering and terror. As far as Fox was concerned, Krystal was justified in being impatient. At the same time, however, he felt that impatience wouldn't solve anything. He felt that saying, "Well, at least you're safe" would be out of the question too as she was much more concerned with the safety of the other Saurian tribes. His embrace, as far as he was concerned, was all he could do. He patiently waited for Krystal's tears to dry up. It went on for approximately three quarters of a minute. Fox wanted nothing more than to help Krystal at this moment. He was always willing to give her a shoulder to cry on.

Once Krystal finished drying up the last of her tears, she said to Fox, "I'm sorry." She got up and said, "Anyway, I think we should…"

Fox gasped in horror at the horrible slash marks on Krystal's tummy. "Krystal! You're hurt!"

During her battle with General Scales, Krystal received two horrible slash marks on her midriff after Scales took a swipe at her with his claw hand. The first one was approximately an inch above her belly button and the second was at least an inch and a half below her chest. The slash marks stretched out across her midriff and the cuts were deep, with blood leaking out of them. They were not deep enough to reach her insides and the deep layers of skin were still there, but she was bleeding badly. Unfortunately, Krystal didn't care… or at least she tried not to. "It's only a scratch, Fox. I'm fi… Ow!" She stumbled and clutched to her wounds, hoping to stop the bleeding.

"Only a scratch!? Look at you! You're bleeding!"

"I told you, I'm fine!" But she was still struggling to so much as walk.

"No, Krystal! You need medical attention!" Krystal was just about to collapse, but Fox quickly caught her and picked her up. "Fortunately, I have a first aid kit in my backpack. Let's get you to a place where you could rest so I could patch you up."

"I know you're concerned, Fox, but I'm fine."

"Krystal, I can see your injury plain as day. I need to heal you up. You're a great warrior, Krystal, but you need to rest right now. We saved CloudRunner Fortress, and now we must recover, and I must do what I can to heal you. We're in this together so when you're in trouble, I'm gonna help you. You healed my wounds back at Moon Mountain Pass. Now, I want to heal yours."

Krystal felt tense, hoping to try to argue against what Fox just said, but ultimately, she calmed down and decided that he was right. "Very well."

"Good. Now let's find a place where we could rest." Fox then proceeded to carry Krystal out of the Treasure Rooms.

"Fox, did you get the SpellStone?"

"Yep. It's in my backpack as we speak."

Krystal smiled, delighted that her and Fox's efforts weren't completely in vain.

* * *

As soon as Fox arrived at the courtyard, they walked right up to the CloudRunner Queen, who was excited to see them again.

"Fox! Krystal! I'm so glad to see that you're…" But then, the queen gasped in horror at the huge slash wounds on Krystal's belly and the blood dripping from them.

"I'm sorry, your majesty, but Krystal got herself badly wounded while she was fighting General Scales. Do you know of a place where we can rest?"

The queen looked kind of pensive. "Follow me."

* * *

As soon as the Queen arrived in a small room with two stone stone squares the size of dinner tables with cloths on top of them, Fox followed her inside carrying Krystal with him. The queen said, "You two may rest here until Krystal has fully recovered."

"Thank you, your majesty."

The queen lifted the cloth from one of the stone squares and set it aside. "Feel free to use this tablecloth as a blanket. I hope you two rest well." She left the room.

Fox put Krystal down on the slab where she lay down and rested. Krystal breathed heavily as Fox opened up his backpack and pulled out a first-aid kit, thinking, _Never leave home without one._ He rubbed some sanitizer between his hands, then took out a small washcloth and wiped the areas around Krystal's slash wounds, washing away the blood.

Krystal smiled. "You're so sweet, Fox. Though, I can assure you, my Krazoa powers can accelerate my body's healing rate. And thus, these injuries will be healed overnight."

Fox finished wiping away the blood from Krystal's lower wound near her belly button. He was quite happy to hear what she just said. "That's wonderful! But I don't want to run the risk of you getting infected before then." He then wiped the blood from the other wound.

"That's what I like about you, Fox. You're always so considerate and thoughtful."

"Why, thank you." He took out a small jar of antiseptic gel, opened the lid, and put two of his fingers into it, scooping up some of the antiseptic. "Now, this is antiseptic, which is used to keep any potential bad bacteria and germs out. So hold still…" He then placed those fingers into Krystal's lower wound, nearby her navel. He then started rubbing the inner walls of her wound, coating them with the antiseptic.

Without the brutal wounds she got from General Scales, Krystal's bare midriff looked incredibly smooth and beautiful. Fox thought that it would be a bit nice to feel it. He placed his ring finger and pinky on the area below the lower wound, and as he rubbed antiseptic into the wound, he felt the smoothness of Krystal's tummy. It felt so warm and comfortable, and as he kept applying the gel…

Krystal blushed slightly, and said, "Uh…" Fox took a brief downward glance and noticed that he had his ring finger touching Krystal's belly button. He quickly lifted his ring finger and pinky upwards, blushing intensely, saying, "It's not what you think, Krystal, I was just… uh…"

Krystal giggled. "It's okay, Fox. I actually like having my midriff massaged every now and then. It's been a while since that happened. And not in a creepy and perverse way."

"Oh. Right." Fox relaxed and kept rubbing in the antiseptic. As soon as he finished with one side of the wound, he put his fingers back into the jar and rubbed more gel onto the other side. He wanted to leave no stone unturned and keep the woman he loved as healthy as possible so that she could keep fighting for the people of Sauria.

Fox then coated the other side of the first wound with the antiseptic, placing his thumb on her belly. "You know, I did mention when you were treating my wounds back at Moon Mountain Pass, but now, this is starting to remind me of that."

Krystal noticed Fox still massaging her midriff. "Come to think of it, I actually do see the resemblance. Of course, I'd love to have a midriff massage from you, Fox. Though, I'd prefer it after my body is healed up."

"Good idea." Fox scooped up more antiseptic and rubbed it on the upper wound. "And another thing; I did tell you to flee from Scales if he became too dangerous for you, but to think he would end up fleeing from _you_? Your tribe was right to teach their women how to fight and it deserved to have you as their princess."

"Why thank you, Fox. Though my fight with Scales was pretty tough. I'm pretty sure Scales knew how much I hated him and he used that to his advantage. I kept recklessly charging at him but he kept countering my attacks. It brought me near death a few times, but I was able to use my wits and magic to escape."

"And then what happened?" Fox asked as he rubbed antiseptic on the other side of Krystal's upper wound.

"I took a moment to calm myself and recognized Scales' strategy for fighting me: it was to make me angry enough to wildly charge at him, leaving myself open for a counterattack. So, I tried using the same tacting on him. And when he took the bait, I was able to counter his every attack."

"Nice work, Krystal!" Fox then took out some bandages.

"Also, I did say before that feeling strong emotions did make my telepathy harder to use. So, after calming myself, I became capable of predicting Scales' every move."

"Wouldn't _his_ seething hatred have also made that more difficult?"

"Technically, but figuring out which attacks he would use didn't require extreme precision. So, I was able to dodge… _most_ of his attacks fairly easily. And I think that I was almost unbeatable when I was fighting him."

"Could you lift your body up for a minute?" Fox asked as he prepared the first bandage. Krystal lifted her body up for a brief moment. Fox put the bandage underneath her back and then wrapped it around the lower wound. "You know, back at Krazoa Palace, you did tell me about your first confrontation with Scales."

"Yes, I did. Before I boarded his ship, Kite and I flew around in a storm looking for the distress signal until we were attacked by fireballs. I attempted to deflect one with my shield from my staff, but the fireball hit before the shield could truly activate, knocking my staff out of my hand."

Fox finished tying the first bandage as Krystal finished saying that. He got out the second bandage and wrapped it around her upper wound. "And then it landed in ThornTail Hollow and that was how I found it."

"Indeed. It turned out that the fireballs were being shot at us from a flying ship with a figure-head resembling a dragon. Without my staff, I had to resort to my own Krazoa powers to fight back against the ship, so I launched orbs of energy at each cannon, demolishing them. The fact that I was completely unarmed may have been why my confrontation with Scales was completely one-sided. Or so I thought. Even with my staff back, getting impulsive was still my greatest weakness. So that was twice my own recklessness nearly got me killed."

Fox then tied up the second bandage and gently set her back down on the table. "Well, at least now you know how to defeat Scales once you fight him a third time. But when you do…" Fox touched Krystal's hand. "You won't be alone."

"You're so sweet, Fox."

"Why, thank you." He then put the blanket on Krystal and walked over to and sat on his own bed.

"You know, Fox, we did have that kiss earlier. So, I guess that means that when this mission is over, I will be joining your team."

"Yep. And before you ask me, nu-uh. Slippy will still be the one cooking and cleaning for the team."

Krystal burst out laughing at Fox's remark. Fox waited for her to be done, but he did feel a bit of an urge to start chuckling himself. After Krystal calmed down and stopped laughing, she asked, "Have other women joined Star Fox?"

"Well, two other girls named Miyu Lynx and Fay Collie joined for a time but left for… _some_ reason… and while Katt never officially joined the team, she did help us out from time to time. Plus, she seems to have a crush on Falco and even considered joining Star Fox because of that."

"So I guess that would leave me as the only official female member of Star Fox, then."

"Yep. Also, judging from some of our past interactions, and your behavior during some of them, I'm guessing your culture's standards on sexuality were a lot more… flexible than mine."

"They _were_. I'd go into more details, but I think it's better to wait until our relationship reaches, well, _that_ point."

"Maybe that's for the best. You know, judging by its cooler colors, I think that the SpellStone we got today might be for the Ocean Force Point Temple. The only problem is where to find it. I think we saw what looked like a temple back at Cape Claw. You think that might be it?"

"That does seem incredibly likely. Let's make that our first stop tomorrow."

"Good idea." Fox went onto his own bed and put the blanket on himself. "Good night, Krystal."

"Nighty-night, Fox. Sweet wet dreams."

"Sweet _what_ dreams?"

"Never mind, Fox. See you in the morning."

* * *

 _Fox felt a warm sensation around him. He couldn't help but see Krystal, the woman he loved, embracing him. She smiled flirtingly as she embraced him and wiggled her hips. "Good morning, Fox. I hope you slept well."_

" _I… I did. Thank you."_

" _I love you, handsome. But that kiss was just the beginning" She brought Fox closer to her and pressed her chest against Fox's. Fox felt a surge of arousal within him. He enjoyed feeling Krystal's bosom upon his chest. It felt so warm and soft. He also felt the warmth of Krystal's body from other parts as well. Especially the… lower areas. Krystal kept pulling Fox closer towards her..._

Fox kept squirming in the bed breathing passionately. He seemed pretty restless, but after a few seconds, he started slowing down and relaxing more. Fox opened his eyes for a brief moment and saw that Krystal wasn't standing before him, pressing her bosom against his chest, that she was instead sleeping in the other table across the room. He breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that Krystal enjoyed flirting with Fox and playing around with his sexual lust, but even by those standards, that was pushing it, creeping him out. Which was why the Krystal of the waking world was holding back and probably will until Fox felt that he was ready to have her press her chest and pelvis against his own. In all of that, Fox managed to find a silver lining; it would let him tell reality from his perverted fantasies. He smiled and went back to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Fox was sleeping in due to his perverted fantasies waking him up last night. But he heard a voice. A beautiful voice. A… _familiar_ voice. And that voice called out to him. "Fox?" He squinted a little but relaxed his eyes again. "Fahhh-ooooox…" He heard the voice call him again. He made slight grunts and started moving his head about. "Fahhhhhhh-ooooooooooooox…" He started squinting his eyes again and then opening them, moaning, "Is that… you… Krystal…" He opened his eyes a bit more widely and took a look at what's in front of him…

He saw Krystal crouching down on top of him, but giving herself some space between her body and Fox's. She had a flirty smile on her face and positioned herself so that Fox would end up looking down her cleavage. Fox fully woke up and blushed intensely. Krystal flirtingly said to him, "Good morning, Prince Charming. Ready to go?"

Fox, blushing intensely, stammered, "Uh…. good morning, Krystal. But, could you please not do that? I'd like to tell reality from my adolescent fantasies."

"Oh. Sorry, Fox." Krystal got off Fox's bed and back on the floor, and then Fox noticed something about her very quickly. The bandages he put on her were gone and her wounds were completely healed! Fox's jaw dropped in amazement. "Well, I told you, my Krazoa power accelerates my body's healing rate. Now I can ask for a midriff massage from you at any time."

"Uh… thanks. Anyway, let's get going. We've got a SpellStone to return."

* * *

Fox and Krystal walked along the entrance bridge back to the Arwing, where they were greeted by the CloudRunner Queen, her children, and Gradabug. Gradabug greeted them by saying, "Well done, Fox and Krystal. You have now have the seconds SpellStone."

The queen said, "And with Scales gone, my tribe can now start to rebuild their lives." She bowed saying, "I am forever grateful."

Krystal knelt back. "We're always happy to be of help to you, your majesty." Fox bowed as well.

Gradabug then said, "Don't forget! As soon as you get back to the surface, you need to find the Ocean Force Point Temple."

Fox nodded. He and Krystal walked toward the Arwing as the CloudRunners on the sides of the bridge lifted up their wings like they were flags. Triumphant in their victory over Scales, the vulpine duo walked proudly toward the Arwing.

When they got to the Arwing, Fox activated the signal on his PDA opening the cockpit and forming a ladder to get inside. Afterwards, Krystal hopped in behind the seat while Fox followed, jumping into the seat.

* * *

As soon as the Arwing took off into the atmosphere on its way back to Dinosaur Planet and through the energy portal, Fox noticed the blinking light on his console and immediately responded. It was General Pepper. "You did it again, Fox. The fortress is back in control of the CloudRunners! You must take this SpellStone to the Ocean Force Point Temple."

"Thanks, General. I'm on my way there now."

"It must be located near the sea. Have you been anywhere like that yet, Fox?"

"Yes, General. I'll be heading there shortly."

"Excellent. Also, Peppy told me about your new lady friend… I was wondering if…"

But then Fox quickly shut off the transmission before Pepper can finish and they took off.

Krystal asked, "Was that General Pepper?"

"Yep. That was him."

"You know, it does seem kind of rude of you to just cut him off like you did. I'd love to talk to him eventually."

"Just don't talk to him about the more… _intimate_ stuff. Okay?"

As Fox and Krystal were speeding their way back down to Sauria, Fox asked Krystal, "Remember when you said that your staff was made specifically for you and that both it and the one I currently wield have 'chosen wielders?' You mind elaborating on that? And who was the chosen wielder of the staff I'm currently using?"

The Krazoa staffs received their power from the spirits themselves. They give them various attributes like which ones have stronger magic, like mine, and which ones have stronger physical attacking capabilities like yours. The attributes of each staff depend largely on those of the warriors chosen to wield them. I had stronger magical power and a knack for strategizing, but my brother, Sabre, specialized more in physical combat. The staff you wield now originally belonged to him."

Fox felt a little empty. Knowing now that the weapon he was now using was originally owned by Krystal's brother, a person she loved and cared about, the fact that she gave it to him so readily shows just how much he means to her, but at the same time, he felt that his staff was all Krystal has left of Sabre. He pondered on these thoughts as he returned to Sauria's atmosphere until…

An enemy was picked up on Fox's radar. He quickly attempted to steer out of the way to escape the sight of the enemy pursuing him. He made a quick turn, throwing Krystal off balance. As soon as she regained her footing, she took a quick glance at Fox's radar. She was terrified to see that an enemy was behind them. Fox identified the idon on the radar. "Wolf!? But how…"

Lasers were being fired at Fox. He shouted, "Hang on tight, Krystal" and as soon as she did exactly that, he immediately did a barrel roll deflecting the laser fire. Krystal clutched the seat to prevent herself from losing her balance as Fox did a summersault to dodge the lasers. But then, the Wolfen pursuing them crashed his ship into the wing of the Arwing, damaging it. Fox struggled to keep the Arwing steady, but then the Wolfen fired its lasers at the damaged wing blowing it off as well as the stabilizers on the Arwing. causing the Arwing to accelerate uncontrollably. Fox kept the Arwing as level as he could, so that it wouldn't crash into the ground so suddenly. "Krystal! Get on my lap!"

Krystal then hopped into Fox's lap and then Fox released his left hand from the steering and said, "Now put your left hand on the steering!" Krystal put her left hand on the steering controls, positioning it in the same manner that Fox did, and as soon as he released the right hand from the controls, she immediately did the same with her right, without even being commanded to. Fox then unbuckled his seat belt that was a buckle on his chest attached to four belts from his seat, then quickly put the buckle in front of Krystal's stomach before rebuckling the seat belt. Then he immediately opened the cockpit and pressed the "Eject" button on the Arwing's controls. The seat launched right out of the Arwing with both Fox and Krystal in it, held together by the Arwing's seat belt, and a parachute activated. As the vulpine duo gently descended to the ground into a distant jungle nearby, they breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close."

Krystal breathed in her reliefs for a bit, grateful that she and Fox were able to escape with their lives. "You've always been very quick to adapt, Fox. Now we just need to find a way back." But then a thought suddenly occurred to her. The fact that she was sitting on Fox's lap again put her in a bit of a flirtatious mood. "Speaking of 'close...'"

Fox immediately started blushing profusely. Krystal teased, "Nose bleed."

Fox took a small swipe at his lip. It turned out his nose _was_ bleeding. Krystal replied, "It's okay, fox. I look forward to these kinds of moments with you. I just hope they wouldn't be in life-or-death situations. I look forward to any midriff massage I might have from you."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Anyway, is the SpellStone safe?"

"It never left my backpack and I'm still wearing it. So, yeah. It's safe."

Krystal smiled very brightly and warmly, ecstatic that a key item was still safe in their hands.

Their parachute landed safely in the middle of a jungle. As soon as our heroes reached the ground, Fox unbuckled his backpack. Then Krystal hopped off his lap and then she and Fox started looking around. He started asking, "Where are we?"

"Fox?" Fox took a look at the expression on Krystal's face. She looked terrified. "I think I know about this place. This is the Komalia Jungle. A jungle infested with ShadowHunters, RedEyes, and plants with a taste for flesh! The inhabitants of this planet call it the 'Jungle of Evil!' We have to find a way out of here before..." But Krystal then detected that something would jump out at her. She drew her staff immediately and then something immediately jumped out of the bushes. A velociraptor leaped out of the bushed and attempted to bite Krystal, but she immediately had her staff in the beast's mouth, pushing the beast away, but then Fox drew his staff and rammed the tail end into the velociraptor's neck, denting a hole in it and sending an electrical shockwave into the monster's nervous system. The velociraptor screeched in pain as the electrical surged through him for a few moments, then the beast collapsed and fell to the ground. Krystal crouched down and checked the beast for vital signs.

Fox asked, "Is it dead?"

Krystal got up again. "Yes." She spat on the velociraptor's corpse. "Vile monsters like these deserve to drop like flies."

"What was that thing?"

"A ShadowHunter. Like the ones I saved those ThornTails from. And unfortunately..." Fox and Krystal posed in a back-to-back fashion, redying their staffs as more ShadowHunters lurked out of the plants and trees, glowering at the two vulpine warriors. "...there's more where they came from!"


	13. Chapter 29

Fox and Krystal were surrounded by vicious and hungry ShadowHunters on all sides. The two vulpine warriors readied their staffs, preparing for the impending attack. Two of the ShadowHunters then jumped at Fox and Krystal and they counterattacked. The ShadowHunter that charged after Fox opened its jaw to take a bite of him, but Fox quickly jumped out of the way and struck at it in the jaw, knocking some of its teeth out. Meanwhile, Krystal backflipped over the ShadowHunter trying to attack her, and as soon as the beast was right below her, struck at the beast's back before she even touched the ground. The beast staggered while Krystal landed on the back of another ShadowHunter, grabbed it by the throat from behind, and squeezed it so tightly that its neck snapped in an instant. Fox dodged yet another ShadowHunter's attempt to bite him, and then smacked it in the jaw, then hit another one in the knees so hard that it completely crippled its movement, as Krystal stabbed yet another ShadowHunter in the eye with the tail end of her staff, sending an electrical shockwave into the beast's body, killing it. But then, yet another ShadowHunter leaped out of the bushed and attempted to bite Krystal, but she immediately had her staff in the beast's mouth, pushing the beast away with all her strength. She kept struggling to push the ShadowHunter back, but it kept trying to get her staff out of its mouth so it could sink its razor sharp teeth into Krystal's skin. Then Krystal had an idea. Taking advantage of her staff being in the monster's jaw, she lept in the air while still holding on to the sides of it and wrapped her legs around the ShadowHunter's neck. She then placed her left hand where her right hand initially was and vice versa, and then tugged the staff so that her hands ended up in their original positions again. She struggled hard as the ShadowHunter's neck was thick, but she pulled her strength together and quickly turned the staff 180 degrees, breaking the ShadowHunter's neck in the process, killing it. When the ShadowHunter collapsed on the ground, dead, Krystal yanked her staff from the beast's mouth and charged at one more ShadowHunter while Fox struck yet another one in the back with the head of his staff, shattering its spine, killing it. But before he even noticed it, yet another ShadowHunter viciously bit into Fox's shoulder, but he shoved the tail end of his staff into the beast's eye. The beast roared, causing Fox to be released from it grip, and when he pulled it out, it bled to death and collapsed. But due to how badly he was bitten, Fox clutched his shoulder in pain.

Krystal noticed Fox's injury. She had to use her magic to kill the ShadowHunters more quickly so that neither she nor Fox get eaten alive by the evil beasts. She shouted, "Fox! Activate a Ground Quake!" Fox nodded. The vulpine duo jumped into the air and charged up energy in their staffs for a ground quake. The jewels in the heads of their staffs started glowing very brightly, then the slammed the tail ends of their staffs into the ground unleashing two Ground Quakes simultaneously, creating a massive shock wave made all the stronger due to two Ground Quakes being used at once, causing the ShadowHunters to stumble and stagger. Krystal shouted, "Now use your Ice Blast!" Fox and Krystal stood back to back firing their Ice Blasts at the downed ShadowHunters, freezing them solid. The staggering made the ShadowHunters unable to resist the power of the Ice Blasts fired by the vulpine duo. Their bodies were instantly frozen solid, then Krystal unleashed yet another Ground Quake, sending another tremor that shook the ShadowHunters' frozen bodies causing them to collapse on the ground and then the impact shattered their bodies into thousands of pieces. Fox and Krystal breathed heavily from battling the ShadowHunter horde. Fighting ShadowHunters was nothing like fighting SharpClaw. ShadowHunters were quick and intelligent and had sharp teeth and claws that they used to hunt down their prey. They also hunted in packs and didn't seem to have any regards for whether or not they attacked their own, unlike the SharpClaw that didn't want to hurt their allies, apart from General Scales, who would kill any SharpClaw that fails or disobeys him. Compared to the SharpClaw, the ShadowHunters posed a serious threat. Fox and Krystal would have to be careful in order to survive.

Krystal turned to Fox, saying, "We'd better get out of… Fox, you're hurt!" Krystal quickly healed the wounds from the ShadowHunter's bite on Fox's shoulder with her magic. Fox felt right as rain in an instant as his bite wounds vanished.

"Thanks, Krystal. Now let's get out of this jungle before we become lunch. Can you detect any source of magic?"

"Give me a second." Krystal focused for a moment, hoping to detect a source of magic. It would be likely that it would be from a teleportation pad that could potentially be a way out of the jungle. She reached deep within her inner focus and hoped to feel the energies within the aria. Then she finally picked up on a reading. She pointed somewhere in the jungle. "That way!"

"Thanks, Krystal. Hopefully we won't run into any more of those… things." They walked through the jungle in the direction Krystal indicated, but Fox felt uneasy. He felt as if he and Krystal were being watched… and maybe he was right.

* * *

As Fox and Krystal continued their walk through the jungle, he said to him, "Those ShadowHunters are pretty scary. I thought those monsters would eat me alive for sure."

"They are the most formidable beasts I have ever faced, but fighting them is much easier with an ally beside you. When I defeated the ShadowHunters that were attacking those ThornTails, the ThornTails did their best to hold the ShadowHunters off, but they were ultimately powerless against them. So I might as well have battled them alone."

"Well, I'm glad to be of some help to you, this time, Krystal."

"Thank you, Fox. I…"

But then all of a sudden, the vulpines heard a loud, ominous roar behind them. They quickly looked behind them and heard loud, thundering footsteps. The footsteps got louder and louder… and then they saw a large beast appear before them. It looked somewhat similar to the ShadowHunter only it was incredibly large and its body wasn't as lanky. Its teeth and claws were sharp and it had large, angry red eyes. The beast roared, angrily, and Fox knew in an instant that he and Krystal were facing a member of the most insidiously evil tribe on all of Sauria: the RedEye!

Krystal readied her staff. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to fight one of these." Of course, Fox was dreading this battle even more, but the vulpine duo had no choice. They charged at the beast full force.

Fox aimed at the beast's leg and struck at it with his staff, but nothing happened. He kept attacking, but to no avail, until the beast lifted its foot to kick Fox. Fox knew from the sight of the RedEye's spike-like toenails that getting kicked by a RedEye could easily result in impalement. He quickly dashed out of the way, while attempting to strike the beast again, but to no avail. Krystal, thinking that Fox may be in danger, dashed to him and grabbed him and moved him out of the ReyEye's reach. As soon as she got them out of the way, she said to him, "What were you thinking!? The RedEye are immune to simple strikes from our staffs, remember?"

"Right."

But then, the RedEye opened its monsterous maw, and attempted to take a big bite out of the two foxes, but they both dashed out of the way just before it could reach them. As soon as the beast's mouth snapped shut, Fox rushed back towards the beast and viciously swung the head end of his staff into its teeth before the RedEye could lift its head back up again. The sheer might of the swing shattered a whole cluster of the RedEye's teeth right out of its maw, as it bled from the mouth, roaring in pain. Krystal immediately took advantage of the beast opening its mouth wide open, and kept firing her Fire Blasts into the beast's mouth. The RedEye roared in even more pain as each Fire Blast entered into its mouth, until finally, it collapsed to the ground, dead.

Fox really liked what he saw. "That was awesome! Nice wo…"

"Get down!" Krystal pushed Fox out of the way, saving him from a lunging bite from a raging beast in the jungle. Krystal turned behind her, and she and Fox saw the monster that attempted to eat the two vulpines: a second RedEye! Krystal charged at the beast and just as it was about to lift its head up, jumped in the air, and grabbed the ridges on the beast's face like the edge of a cliff with one hand and rammed the tail end of her staff into the monster's eye with the other!. She jumped up to and latched onto the brute's nostrils before the beast lifted its head up in the air, screaming in pain. As the beast roared in agony, its head pointed towards the sky, Krystal held on tight to prevent herself from falling to her doom. After the RedEye lowered its head back to a horizontal position, Krystal latched onto the beast's forehead, hoping to get closer to her staff so she could ram it further into the monster's skull, killing it. But then, she read that the monster would tilt its head back yet again, so Krystal jumped to and grabbed the staff while it was still dangling from the RedEye's eye socket. As soon as the RedEye tilted its head, Krystal swing her body so that she was now on top of the beast's face, while still holding her staff with one hand. She pushed her staff deeper into the beast, causing it to roar in pain again. She held on very tight to her staff and the monster's face to keep herself from falling, then pushed the staff just a bit further in. The the RedEye roared in pain yet again, then started to lifelessly collapse to the ground. When its head lowered, Krystal slid down the RedEye's back and tail like Tarzan on a large tree branch. When the beast collapsed, dead, Krystal pulled her staff from the dead RedEye's eye socket and putting it back into her hand.

Fox was amazed at what he just saw. "That was amazing, Krystal!"

"Thank you, Fox. I also strangled a RedEye by sitting on top of its neck while putting my staff underneath it, and pulling with all of my strength. It was a pretty effective way of killing RedEyes."

"Sounds pretty cool."

"It sure does, doesn't it. You should see me doing that sometime. I _personally_ think you'll find it to be a…" She started suggestively rubbing her staff "... _gratifying_ experience."

Fox blushed intensely. He kept on insecurely stammering around.

Krystal giggled. "Anyway, you were pretty amazing yourself. I never would have thought of smashing the RedEye's teeth. I thought their eyes were their only weak point, aside from being vulnerable to being throttled. But you discovered a new week point for the RedEyes that even I haven't thought of."

"Why thank you, Krystal."

"You're welcome. Anyway, I don't think we're that far away from the source of magic that I detected. I think it's… that way."

"Lead the way, Krystal."

"Okay. I'd invite you to watch my butt wiggle again, but this jungle is way to dangerous for us to afford any distractions."

"I wasn't looking at…"

"I know you weren't. I just like it when you do." She winked at her handsome stud of a pilot.

Fox blushed, but then he and Krystal continued on their journey. He activated the communicator on his wrist. The image of Peppy came on, and Peppy immediately asked, "You called, Fox?"

"Bad news, Peppy. My Arwing has been shot down and we've crash landed in this horrible jungle. A jungle infested with carnivorous beasts that want to eat us alive."

"That's terrible! Fortunately, since I have retired from piloting, I can send you my Arwing if you'd like."

"Sounds great, but I don't want to run the risk of it getting shot down too. I think that whoever shot us down is still out there, and unless I see anything that indicates otherwise, I don't want to run the risk of your generous donation being in vain."

"Very well, but be sure to let me know if you've changed your mind. I'll inform Slippy at once. He'll probably get my Arwing in top shape before we send it to you in the meantime."

"Thanks, Peppy. I'll tell you when it's safe to deliver the Arwing. Fox out." Fox deactivated the transmission

Krystal replied, "I hope we can borrow Peppy's Arwing when we get out of this jungle. We shouldn't be too far from that source of magic, though."

"I hope so. Considering what kind of jungle we're in."

"Well, it shouldn't be far from here. It should be just beyond those trees. If we keep moving in this direction, we should be there in time."

"You know, Krystal, when we were shot down, I suspected that Wolf may have been the one firing at us. But now… now I'm not so sure. I mean I know he hates me, but he has always challenged me face to face like a true warrior. A cheap and dirty sneak attack just isn't his style."

"Does that mean that he sent one of his one of his co-pilots after you?"

"I think you're only half-right. If Wolf really does want me dead, then he'd want to finish me off himself in a duel to the death. I think one of his co-pilots attacked us without his authorization. I think it might have been…"

But then, all of a sudden, the two vulpines heard the sound of an engine up above them. The Wolfen that attacked them earlier swooped in above them, and then slowly landed right in front of them. The Wolfen then morphed into a mech resembling a wolf, and the pilot let out a nasty sound that one couldn't tell whether the pilot was laughing or coughing. The pilot then said in a hoarse and raspy voice, "Well, well! Shame I didn't find your precious gem or your smoldering corpse by your crashed ship. At least I can change that now, eh?"

Fox quickly recognized that voice.

"Pigma!"

 **Author's Notes: In Star Fox Zero, when you fight Star Wolf, the Wolfens can turn into wolf-like mechs. I thought I'd incorperate that into this story.**


	14. Chapter 30

"Well, well…" Pigma sneered from the cockpit of his Hunter mech, "It looks like my little fox hunt has more than paid off. Pity you didn't leave your precious gem with your smoldering Arwing. Otherwise, I wouldn't be about to blast you to bits at this very moment!"

"That 'precious gem' is essential for restoring the planet! Now stand aside!" replied Fox as he and Krystal drew their staffs.

Krystal then said, "So you're Pigma Dengar, aren't you. We've only just met and already you sicken me. In fact, I'd say you're even worse than Fox's description made you out to be."

Pigma licked his lips. "Well, well, I see that you, Fox, have got yourself a sexy new lady friend too. Looks like after I blast you to ashes, I'll have _two_ prizes! A gem that'll get me loads of cash, and a gorgeous new concubine! Can't wait to play around with that gorgeous bod of hers! Ahahahaha!"

Kristal's eyes widened in rage as she growled at Pigma. As much as she enjoyed sexual pleasure with the men in her tribe, she knew that they, like Fox, respected her sexuality and didn't see her as a tool for procreation. In fact, they mainly saw her as a wise and inspirational leader and a beacon of hope when things get dark and grim for them. Fox felt the same way. While the fact that Krystal was a voluptuous literal vixen did make him interested in her in the first place, what truly made him decide that she was _the_ woman for him was her sheer willpower and how she is willing to keep fighting no matter how much pain and torment she goes through, and more importantly, how much of himself he sees in her. He would absolutely love to engage in a sexual intercourse with her, but he would want such pleasure to simply be a part of a very strong and meaningful relationship between the two. In their anger, they fired their Fire Blasts at Pigma's Hunter, but apparently the blasts did little more than scratch its paint job. Pigma laughed hoarsely and obnoxiously, and then fired a laser at Fox, but Fox immediately activated his reflector causing the blasts to bounce right back, but Pigma moved his Hunter out of the way dodging the blast. "Nice try, foxy woxy!" Pigma then activated a hyper laser from the mouth of his Hunter Mech. As Fox activated the defensive barrier from his staff, Krystal rushed on over to his side and activated the one from hers. The laser scattered everywhere without so much as scratching Fox or Krystal, and Pigma immediately shut it off, giving the vulpine duo a bit of breathing room.

Krystal then communicated to Fox with her telepathic abilities, _Fox, head under the mechanical beast and perform a Ground Quake. I'll distract him!_

Fox was reluctant to carry out with this command because he was afraid of what kind of danger Krystal would be in, but he dashed to the underside of Pigma's Hunter, while Krystal shot Fire Blasts at the cockpit, shouting, "Over here, you freak!"

Pigma was irritated at the Fire Blasts being fired at him, and went after Krystal. He didn't want to kill, Krystal, though, he just wanted subdue her just to take her as his concubine. Krystal thought that it would be a good idea to use Pigma's lecherous greed against him, as the target that he actually wants dead would be launching the attacks for his downfall before he could even react. As Pigma struggled to find a way to beat Krystal without actually killing her, Fox dashed underneath his Hunter mech, thinking that the Ground Quake would be at its most effective at the legs of the Hunter. Fox twirled his staff and rammed the tail end thereof into the ground, standing next to one of the legs of the Hunter. The release of the Ground Quake shook the Hunter off-balance and caused it to tremble as Pigma struggled to regain balance. Krystal then telepathically communed to Fox, _Good! Now, get out of there!_ Fox bailed out from under the Hunter, and dashed up behind it.

A small aura glowed around Krystal and she concentrated her energy. Darting around Pigma's Hunter from behind, Fox noticed another version of him darting beneath the front end and then going right in front of it. He thought Krystal was onto something. He darted around the legs of the Hunter without letting himself get noticed. The illusion Fox fired his "blaster" at Pigma, but each shot didn't even phase the mech. Pigma laughed and fired his laser canon. The fake Fox dodged a few of them, but then tripped and fell. He panicked in terror. Pigma laughed maniacally and shouted "Say bye-bye!" and fired a big laser at the fake Fox. Upon pulling the trigger, an explosion occurred, and Pigma laughed until the smoke cleared… and he saw that Fox was still there! The illusion Fox smirked and then vanished, and then the laser cannon from the mouth of the Hunter went kaput. The real Fox thrusted the tail end of his staff into the laser canon and completely discombobulated it and was still hanging from the staff as it hung from the canon. Pigma's Hunter jerked around, shaking Fox around. Fox held on for dear life, but the staff slid out of the Hunter laser canon and Fox fell to the ground.

Angrily, Pigma set his sights on Fox and his Hunter mech kicked him to the ground. The mech pounced toward him, and then slammed its foot on Fox's body. Fox screamed in pain as the mech's foot slowly pressed down on top of him. He could practically feel his bones about to crack at any moment.

Krystal,quickly became alarmed at the state Fox was in. She quickly called his name and then rushed towards him to help, but a mechanical hand emerged from the side of Pigma's cockpit. Krystal spotted the hand behind her, and as soon as it swooped down to grab her, dodged the hand with a forward flip, but just as she was about to regain her footing, the hand grabbed her. Krystal struggled to get free as the arm pulled her towards Pigma's cockpit. As the hand returned to the side of the Hunter's head, Pigma said to her, "Aw… don't worry, sweetie. You'll be all nice and cozy at my side. All nice and snuggly." Pigma lecherously licked his lips, smiling ominously at Krystal. She cringed in disgust and glowered in contempt. Pigma went on, "Too bad I can't say the same for yer hubby. Glad to have a lovely guest in witnessing his… _crushing_ defeat! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Krystal stared in terror seeing the man she loved suffered under the foot of Pigma's mech as it started to crush him. Her anger and fear welled up inside of her. A powerful, cyan aura appeared around her. The aura radiated powerful energy within her… energy she was ready to unleash.

She knew she had to save Fox McCloud. Ever since Cerinia's destruction, she has been unable to trust others. She read the hearts of many and sensed malicious intent, and did everything she could to protect herself from it. But ever since she met Fox McCloud, she knew that he had a good heart; that she could trust him. She knew that even though he lusted over her, he wanted to help her not to be rewarded with sexual pleasure, but simply because he doesn't want her to suffer. She knew that despite his hormones going wild at the mere sight of her, he wanted to hold back on having sex with her until the bond between them has gotten much stronger. He was helpful and supportive, forming a strong bond between them. He was the first person in… forever that Krystal would be able to trust. And to see him be taken away from her before her very eyes… the one person worthy of Fox's trust to the point where she could tell him about the tragedies that destroyed her life… to the point where she would invite him to touch her… horribly murdered, leaving her all alone again...

She would not have it.

The mechanical hand that trapped Krystal shattered into a thousand pieces in an instant and the aura around her glowed intensely, and she furiously shrieked out her ancient Cerinian battle cry. Her eyes glowed with a powerful intensity and Pigma, who previously drooled over Krystal and couldn't wait to spread his lecherous hands all over her, trembled in terror. How could one voluptuous young woman be so powerful? Krystal drew her staff and charged at the leg that was crushing Fox. She rammed the tail end of her staff into the knee of that leg, causing sparks to spark out of it. Then she rammed the head end of her staff into the top of the knee of that leg and kept hitting it over and over until the shin of the mechanical leg collapsed onto the ground, no longer on Fox, free from its pressure but horribly injured. The mech started to collapse due to its leg being toppled, and Krystal, horrified that Fox might get crushed, leaped down and grabbed Fox, shouting, "Get out of the way!" and dashed out of the way of the collapsing Hunter with Fox in her arms. The Hunter fell over, and Pigma struggled to get it back up again and Krystal placed Fox on the ground and charged at Pigma. Pigma started sobbing in fear as Krystal charged at him. He desperately started searching for a weapon he could use to fight her off. He tried searching in the left side of his cockpit, but found nothing. Then, just as he was about to check the right side, he heard a thud on his cockpit. He turned upward… and saw her. The girl he hoped to take as a prize was on the roof of his cockpit, snarling like a leopard, holding her mystical staff in her hands. Pigma whimpered in terror as she prepared to strike

Krystal thrusted the tail end of her staff into the glass of the cockpit of Pigma's Hunter. Pigma retracted back in fear, as the impact of Krystal's staff created a huge crack on the glass keeping her away from him. Krystal rammed the tail end of her staff into the cockpit glass again and the crack got larger. Pigma started sweating in terror. Krystal hit the glass a third time, and then, cracks were all over the cockpit glass. Tears started leaking out of Pigma's eyes, as he was now practically praying for a miracle. Krystal then rammed her staff into the glass a fourth time, shattering it into thousands of pieces. Pigma held his hands in front of him and turned away in terror, but Krystal grabbed him by the collar and pulled him towards her, glowering and snarling at the swine. Pigma sobbed as his face was being pulled closer and closer towards Krystal's given that she was downright seething at him. Staring directly into her face downright terrified him. Krystal ruthlessly tossed Pigma to the ground, and then thrusted the tail-end of her staff into the control panel for Pigma's Hunter, causing the electrical interface to go haywire, and then jumped to the ground towards Pigma. Pigma tumbled on the ground, rolling around in the grass, and by the time his movement came to a stop, he was aching in absolute pain. He struggled to rise up by putting his hands to the ground and tried to push himself back up, but his body was aching all over, so he could barely lift himself. Then, all of a sudden, he felt a hard landing on his belly that felt like a punch to the gut, and felt like a cold, metal bar was being pressed against his throat. He saw Krystal perched on top of him. He knew that Krystal had pounced on him and was pushing her staff's shaft against his throat. She was snarling at him, her eyes widening in rage, her muzzle pulling back, exposing her razor sharp teeth as she growled at the terrified swine, who kept sweating and sobbing in terror.

Fox stood by and watched. He knew that Krystal can be incredibly frighteningly vicious when confronting an evildoer, but in addition to all of that, Fox couldn't forgive Pigma for the horrible things he did in his life. Especially the death of Fox's father to whom Pigma was once an ally. So, Fox felt that Pigma may have actually deserved whatever horrid fate Krystal may have in store for him. So, he decided to stand back and watch.

Krystal hissed, venomously, "Any last words before I let you die screaming for your crimes!?"

Pigma cried, "I'm sorry about my concubine comment! I take it back! Please don't…"

Krystal punched Pigma in the nose in the blink of an eye. "A mere punch to the face would be proper retribution for that. No, no, no. Your death sentence will be for leaving Fox's father to die, nearly leaving his friend, Peppy to the same fate, siding with a sadistic, maniacal overlord, attempting to steal something vital to saving this planet, therefore letting it crumble apart with its denizens perishing, _**and nearly murdering Fox McCloud**_ _ **!**_ All for the sake of your desire for more money! If you weren't willing to sacrifice innocents to satisfy your greed, I would have let you leave here alive!" Krystal leaned in closer to Pigma, now narrowing her eyes and smirking, sinisterly, "Now, how shall I send you screaming into oblivion? Should I freeze your limbs solid and shatter them?" Pigma immediately begged, "No! Don't! Anything but that!" but Krystal wasn't listening. She just continued, saying, "Or should I start ripping your flesh apart with my teeth? Or, I could poke a hole in your belly and start tearing out your entrails. Maybe leave you at the top of a tree and start burning it? Or maybe, just maybe..."

Pigma's begging and pleading started dying down. He outright dreaded what he was about to hear. "I could let the wildlife in this jungle be your executioner."

"No! Don't do it!"

"Several wild beasts in this jungle can't wait for a meal. For them, you'd be nice and plump."

"No! Please don't!"

"Or carnivorous plants that can poison you before slowly eating you alive. Oh, and I just blew up your Wolfen. Which means you can't escape this jungle if you wanted to."

"Please! Please have mercy!"

But then, all of a sudden, two other ships that looked exactly like Pigma's landed nearby Pigma's now discombobulated Hunter. After they finished landing, their cockpits opened and out of one stepped a chameleon in a purple and black bodysuit, and out of the other, a wolf in similarly colored armor with a cyan scouter on his right eye. As they approached Pigma, the wolf said to Krystal, "Step aside, woman. We'll take it from here." The wolf and chameleon stepped right before Pigma, and then the wolf smirked at Krystal, who defensively raised her staff, threateningly towards him, and took a slight look into his mind. It turns out the reason for the wolf's smirk did relate to Krystal's skimpy clothing, but not in the sleazy, lecherous way that she dreaded. Wolf saw that Krystal was able to frighten Pigma, and as far as he was concerned, it caused him to admire Krystal for that. He has witnessed Pigma attempt to fondle, or worse, even outright molest other women wearing other racy outfits, even though some of them were much less revealing than Krystal's. As far as Wolf was concerned, a comely young woman in such revealing clothing, such as Krystal being able to outright frighten Pigma is worthy of his respect and admiration. Krystal's stance relaxed slightly.

Fox approached Krystal, and turned to face his rival, drawing his staff. "Wolf! Leon! What are you two doing here!?"

Wolf sneered at Fox. "I think I should be asking _you_ that question, pup! I'd love to say, 'Nothing that concerns you,' and it probably wouldn't have if Pigma hadn't simply… _hogged_ my chance at taking you down."

Pigma whimpered, "But… But, I thought you'd be proud of me for taking down Fox! Isn't that what you wanted? Having him out of the pictu.."

But then Wolf kicked him in the stomach. "That privilege was meant for _me!_ Know your place!" He turned back to Fox saying, "Pigma went missing for several days and Leon and I were looking for him."

Leon giggled, "He must have been a naughty boy, and we weren't happy that he's been acting up."

Wolf continued, "Of course, we never imagined our search would lead us to you. Don't think, even for a second that I have forgotten the score I have to settle with you, though. Because of the rut that you and your playmates are in right now, and because what you're doing here seems important, I'll let you off the hook. But remember this: Star Wolf _will_ take you down one day!"

Krystal threateningly pointed her staff at Wolf. "If you want Fox, you'll have to go through _me_ first!"

Wolf smirked at Krystal, but then dropped it and said to her, "This fight is between me and him, little girl. Stay out of it."

Krystal continued to leer at Wolf. "Make me."

Fox quickly became afraid that potential violence could erupt between Wolf and Krystal, so he hoped that changing the subject could ease the tension, "How come Andrew Oikonny isn't with you?"

"He left Star Wolf because he wanted to replace Andross as head of his empire. He considers himself to be his heir, but that's not the point. Give us Pigma, _now!_ "

Fox then told Krystal, "You heard him. Let's give him Pigma."

Krystal thought about it deep and hard. She really wanted to kill Pigma or at least let the monstrous wildlife in the jungle kill him. She couldn't forgive him for how much he has hurt Fox, and she certainly couldn't forgive him for being willing to let an entire planet's worth of innocent men, women, and children perish just to satisfy his greed. But at the same time, she knew that Fox didn't want a fight to break out between her and his longtime nemesis, Wolf. As far as Fox was concerned, the Komalia jungle already provided him and Krystal stressful battles and a battle with Star Wolf would do nothing more than waste their energy. Krystal let out a sigh of animosity, then stepped aside, saying, "Here, Wolf. You can have him." She then hissed at Pigma, "Congratulations, Pigma. You got off easy. _This_ time!"

Wolf grabbed Pigma by the collar and started dragging him towards his Wolfen. After he threw Pigma into his Wolfen behind his seat and he and Leon jumped into the cockpits of their ships, Wolf said, "You'd better be ready the next time we meet. Because when we do, we'll be coming for you. And we're _not_ gonna play nice!" The two Wolfens took off into the air and flew away.

Krystal said, softly and somewhat contemptuously, "So, that's Star Wolf…"

"Yeah. We've been at odds with them for years. But, we'd better get going. We have a jungle to escape from."

"You're right, Fox."

"And by the way, Krystal, thanks for saving me. I would have been squashed like a bug if you hadn't torn up the mechanical leg of Pigma's mech."

"You're welcome, Fox. But I really wanted to kill that pig so badly. All the lives he sacrificed for his selfish aims…"

"We'll fight him again someday. We can have our revenge then. Right now, we have other things to worry about. Can you still detect that source of magic from earlier?"

Krystal tried concentrating to track down the magic she detected. As soon as she sensed a strong presence, she pointed and said, "That way." She gestured Fox to follow her, and then they walked in the direction Krystal pointed. Fox activated his PDA and contacted Peppy. "Hey, Peppy!"

"You called, Fox?" asked Peppy on the intercom.

"Turns out it was Pigma who shot us down. But we took care of him."

"Great! Slippy is still working on my Arwing, but I can send it to you now, if you would like."

"I would prefer to wait until it's ready. Let me know when it is."

"Okay, Fox. I'll contact you when it's ready. Peppy, signing off."

"Okay, Peppy." Fox turned off his PDA.

Krystal kept thinking, _You got lucky this time, Pigma, but the next time we meet, I will show you no mercy!_


	15. Chapter 31

A tall, gargantuan plant with thorns on its body and a monstrous maw resembling a flower-bud when closed and having menacingly sharp teeth when open lashed out with its tentacles, resembling incredibly thick vines with thorns on them. Fox and Krystal dodged the vine by jumping over it. Krystal then fired her fire blasts at the monster as Fox rushed towards the main stem to strike at it and chop it down like a tree. The creature lashed one of its tentacles at Krystal, but she quickly dodged the attack with a backflip, evading all harm. But to her horror, it turned out that the monster also lashed the other tentacle out at Fox, but he didn't dodge the attack in time, and was knocked to the ground. She gasped in terror, then the beast wrapped its tentacle vine around Fox before lifting him up. Fox felt the thorns digging into his body as the vine squeezed around him. Krystal charged at the plant monster to free Fox, but Fox had this flame-like aura surrounding him. The plant monster screamed in pain as Fox's flaming body burned the beast's arm. Then, Fox dashed out of the tentacle's grasp and shot his way through the beast's main body, decapitating it in of an eye. As the plant monster's severed head landed on the ground, Fox landed safely on the ground with the flames around him disappearing, yet none of the flames hurt him. The only injuries on his body were from the thorns. He lurched in pain as Krystal rushed to him. When she approached him, he asked, "You all right, Krystal?"

"Actually, I think I should be asking _you_ that." Krystal put her hand on Fox's shoulder and a cyan glow formed around them, and Fox's wounds healed in an instant.

"Thank you, Krystal."

"You're welcome, Fox. Anyway, what was with that flame that came around you? I didn't think you had Krazoa powers."

"That was more Cornerian military tech. It allows us to form fiery shields around us and launch ourselves like rockets."

"Rock-ettes? Oh, you mean vehicles that allow for space travel?"

"Just a specific type thereof. The large ones that have huge engines. Anyway, these monstrous plants don't let up here."

"Cerinia had man-eating plants as well. The warriors of my tribe, myself included, fought and killed many of them. Sometimes, small villages would be attacked by them and then we would rush in to save the day."

"Was Cerinia a jungle planet?"

"Well, there were plenty of jungles on Cerinia and I've explored many of them. A lot of plant monsters lurked there, and I have killed many of them."

"Were any of them like the one we just fought?"

"Some of them. Anyway, we'd better get going."

* * *

As Fox and Krystal traversed through the jungle up a hill slope, Fox asked Krystal, "Good thing we left Tricky back in ThornTail Hollow. It would have been stressfully difficult to protect him in a place like this. How much farther are we from that source of magic you detected?"

"I'm afraid that it's still way too far away from us. But, on the plus side, now that Pigma's out of the picture, you can request Peppy for his Arwing."

"You know, that sounds like a good id…" But then, Fox spotted something strange in the distance. Amongst all the green trees and bushes far away from where the vulpine duo was, they spotted something that looked like a building. Fox squinted really hard. To him it looked like a grey building and appeared way too high-tech to a Saurian temple. He took out his Hi-Def Display Device but then paused for a minute. "Krystal, do you have clairvoyance?"

Krystal smiled flirtatiously. "Yes. Oh, you think I might want to see what's over there."

"Yeah. Well, go ahead. See through my eyes." Fox looked through his Hi-Def Display Device and positioned it so that he was looking at the mysterious building off in the distance. Krystal's eyes turned cyan as she put her hands together as if meditating. She was looking through Fox's eyes as he eyed the building off in the distance.

The building didn't look anything like one of Sauria's ancient temples. The exterior of the building looked metallic as opposed to the stone walls of a temple and its structure was more akin to a technologically advanced base as well, like the ones back on Corneria. Fox zoomed in on the base. It turns out that it was a technologically advanced base just as his impressions have had him to believe. But many of the things nearby the base... disturbed him. As Krystal was looking through Fox's eyes with her clairvoyance, she too was disturbed by what they were seeing. When the vulpine duo looked closer at the mechanical ships being docked at numerous points at the base, they saw that they looked exactly like the Venom fighter ships that Fox has been fighting on the way to the planet of Sauria, and their suspicions were confirmed. Krystal clenched her hands into fists and taking slow breaths that whenever she exhaled, it sounded like a hissing snake. Fox could tell. Krystal was seething and knowing that the Venomian soldiers literally destroyed her world, Fox believed that she had every right to. Fox took a look at the front entrance and spotted two guards in front of the main door. A monkey and a cougar stood on each side of the door and Fox and Krystal recognized their uniforms. They were Venomian soldiers just like the ones Fox fought in the Lylat War and the ones that ran the experiments on Cerinia that obliterated the planet, and slaughtered the men, women, and children of Krystal's tribe, including her parents. Krystal's seething has gotten worse, and she would love nothing more than to charge into the base and rip every Venomian soldier limb from limb. But then tears formed in her eyes as she knew that would be an impossibility. If the full might of her tribe's greatest warriors were easily massacred by Venom's military troops, what chance did she have of defeating them all by herself?

Fox dialed his wrist pad, saying, "I'd better contact Peppy and tell him what we just found."

Krystal deactivated her clairvoyance and said to him, "Good idea. Charging in there by ourselves would be tempting but suicidal. They should be left to those more equipped to handle them." Krystal started standing at attention, but then she suddenly sensed something. She sensed someone's thought patterns. The thought patterns clearly showed signs of stress, panic, fatigue and fear. The person whose thought patterns Krystal was sensing felt like he was reaching his limit, but he can't stop or he'll be caught and subjected to more torture. What's more, Krystal recognized the man who had those thought patterns. She gasped in horror.

"Are you okay, Krystal?" Fox asked.

"Sabre! He's alive but in mortal danger! We have to save him! But we..." Krystal didn't know what to do. She wanted to save her brother, but she knew that she and Fox were too under-equipped to properly face off against the Venom soldiers that were pursuing him. She had to think of something. She calmed down for a moment. "Fox… I have an idea."

* * *

One soldier clad in a black armor with red markings on it, turned to another, saying, "We lost sight of him, sir."

The other replied, "Keep looking. He can't be far from here."

The two soldiers spread out looking for their prey. Miles ahead of them, a blue-furred vulpine male was crawling and bleeding as he attempted to escape from his pursuers. He almost looked like a male version of Krystal as he had blue fur and wore sandals, shoulder-pads, and braces on his forearms and lower legs just like the ones Krystal had, and had tattoos around his upper arms just like the ones on Krystal's. He also had a tattoo on each of his shoulders that looked like a spiral with four arrows on each side of it, just like the ones on Krystal's hips. He wore a loincloth similar to Krystal's but was at least half a foot longer. He was covered in cuts all over his body and his forehead had a very large injury in the center, shaped like an upside-down triangle, causing tiny streams of blood to run down his face. He had burn marks all over his chest and his arms and legs had a lot of cuts on them. He was doing what he can to escape, but he was reaching his limit. _Krystal…_ he thought, _if you can hear me, I'm sorry. Please live._ He collapsed on the ground, but he didn't want to stop so he resorted to crawling just to continue escaping. But he was straining himself and was about to collapse…

The soldiers from before turned to a few other soldiers behind them, including one in the very back, weilding a sniper rifle, with a sheathed knife on his hip. Their leader said to the sniper, "I'm positive that we are closing in on the fugitive. We're sure he has barely any fight left in him, but if he does, be sure to take a few shot at him. Don't kill him, though. Just injure him to the point where he can't fight back."

"As you wish."

"Try using that tree as a sniping spot." The rest of the soldiers headed off through the jungle to try to find their fugitive while the sniper looked around to find a good sniping spot.

A few seconds went by and the sniper's fellow soldiers left the area and proceeded further in the jungle. As soon as he was the only guard in the vicinity, a figure jumped out of the bushes and grabbed him, gagging him with her left hand, preventing him from crying for help. The sniper struggled to speak, but the attacker used her right hand to grab the hilt of his knife and pulling it out of its sheath, then plunged the blade into his throat. She coldly hissed into his ear, "This is for my homeworld!" She slashed the knife through the soldier's throat and and pushed it across his neck, spilling gallons of blood dripping down his body. Krystal let go of his now lifeless body as it fell to the ground, then took off the belt holding the sheath for his knife and putting it on her own waist. Even though revenge wasn't her primary motivation for her search for the cause of her homeworld's destruction, she wouldn't pass an opportunity for it if it were to arise. She telepathically communicated to Fox, who was right behind her, _Well, that's the first step._ She picked up the sniper rifle used by the dead soldier, and gave it to Fox. _Here. Use this. You snipe some of the other soldiers on your side from a distance while I sneak up on a few more of them from the other side._

 _What if you end up in trouble and are about to get caught?_

 _I'll signal you letting you know that I'm in danger. When I do, snipe in on the enemy closing in on me. Also, don't stay in one spot for too long or it won't be long until they find you. After sniping away at a few enemies, move to another spot. And leave most of the singular foes to me. If there are two or more soldiers together, I'll signal you to take out one of them, to scatter the group. And be sure to use your SharpClaw disguise to cloak your body heat._ Krystal activated her aura to mask her body heat while Fox turned on his SharpClaw disguise and climbed up a tree with the sniper rifle so he could snipe away at some of the enemy soldiers.

Fox asked through Krystal's telepathy, _How many soldiers are there?_

 _Approximately eight. Now remember our plan. Now we need to hurry or Sabre won't last long._ Krystal went off into the bushes and trees as she prepared to stalk her prey while Fox prepared to snipe at the Venom soldiers from the tree tops. He tried to find out which Venomian soldier was closest to Sabre. He thought that it has to be the one farthest away from himself, and looked through his rifle, scanning the area to figure out which Venom soldier was furthest from him, therefore being in the lead of the pack. Every time he saw a Venom soldier, he checked if there was one further away from him. Finally, he found him. The leader of the pack. He put the soldier's head in the center of the crosshairs and pulled the trigger.

"Gotcha."

The laser shot out of the rifle all across the jungle and into the Venom soldier's cranium. The soldier instantly collapsed onto the ground, dead as a doornail. After his lifeless body collapsed to the ground, his fellow soldiers ran up to him, worried.

"Commander! Commander, come in!" The three soldiers closest to him ran up to him and tried checking for any sign of life. A heartbeat, a pulse, but they found nothing. The others tried rushing up to them, while Krystal hid in the trees and waited for the one straggler among them. As soon as the last one started passing by Krystal, she leaped down from the tree, gagged him from behind, cut his throat with her knife, and retreated to another tree, while Fox moved to another tree as well, taking advantage of the distracted guards and fleeing while he had the chance.

The few soldiers checking the corpse of their commander had confirmation that he was dead. They turned to their remaining men and one of them said, "Men, we have an assassin after us. They shot our commander and will be after us too. Spread out, hunt him down, and blow his head off!" The entire rest of the platoon replied, "Yes, sir!"

As the Venom troops spread out, Krystal hid in the trees and telepathically communicated to Fox, _Did you take out their commander?_

Fox thought back to her, _Yes, Krystal. I did._

 _Good. That should buy Sabre some time. I already took out another trooper, so that means there are only six soldiers left. And remember, don't stay in one sniping spot for too long, or they'll know where you are._

 _Okay. Be sure to move around as well so that you aren't discovered either._

 _I'm way ahead of you._ Krystal climbed to the top of the tree and waited for the other soldiers to pass by. Then, two more soldiers appeared in front of the tree, completely unaware of Krystal's location. She watched and waited, knowing that if she took out one of them right away, the other would know where she is and kill her instantly with laser fire. She stayed in the trees watching and waiting, activating her invisibility power in case one of them turns around. One of the soldiers walked away while the other stood by on guard. Krystal waited in the tree and used her power to sense the leaving guard's movements to check his distance from the one still at the tree. She crouched behind the trunk of the tree, keeping her aura activated, while the soldier activated a pair of thermal goggles. With Krystal's aura masking her body heat, the soldier looked into the tree, and didn't see any trace of her. After a few minutes, she detected no physical presence near the guard still as the tree. After the soldier turned around and was facing outward again, she crept up towards an opening where she could strike at him. She forcefully put her hand over his mouth, gagging him, and pulled him into the tree. She then pulled out her knife thrusted it into the soldier's eyes, all the while continuing to gag him so that he couldn't scream and cry for help. She then plunged the knife into the soldier's throat, until the soldier died. After the soldier perished, Krystal let his corpse fall out of the tree before dashing to another one undetected. She telepathically communicated to Fox, _Five left._

As two more soldiers walked toward one of the trees that Fox left after sniping their commander, Fox, now hiding in a tree some distance off, sniped at one of the soldiers at a headshot. After watching his comrade die, the other soldier started to panic, but then Fox sniped a headshot on him too and he fell down to the ground dead. While Krystal was telepathically communing with him, Fox responded, _Strike that._ _Three_ _left._

But then, one of the three remaining soldiers walked by the tree where Krystal make her third kill. He spotted a trail of blood and the corpse of his comrade. He felt that the trail could lead him to the assassin. He activated a communication device. "Men. To me. I think I have found the enemy." Krystal overheard what he said as she was hiding in the bushes. She quickly took off her knife belt, fearing that the blood dripping from the knife was giving away her position, and snuck away undetected.

One of the other soldiers that the earlier one contacted said, "Copy…" but then, he thought he saw something rustling in the trees. He tossed a cylindrical metallic item into the tree. Fox attempted to dash his way out of the tree and onto another one, but the metal cylinder launched an electromagnetic field and the field touched Fox before he could escape to the next tree. Fox's SharpClaw disguise dissipated and he stumbled out of the tree getting perpetually injured as he fell. The soldier called on his com, "I found Fox McCloud! The boss'll be SO happy about this!" He fired his blaster at Fox, and Fox, thinking that his Reflector was disabled by the electromagnetic field, activated the force field on his staff.

Hiding in the bushes, Krystal spotted the soldier she feared would find her answer a call on his wrist-mounted com link as the voice from the other side said, " _I found Fox McCloud! The boss'll be SO happy about this!_ " Krystal saw the other two soldiers hurrying off in a different direction, and after hearing laser fire, she knew she had to save the man she loved. She dashed into the tree she was in earlier and returned to the corpse of one of the soldiers she killed. She spotted the blaster he was equipped with, and picked it up and ran off.

Fox kept trying to hold up the shield from his staff, but the relentless laser fire from the Venomian soldier's machine gun and he feared that it wouldn't be long before he ends up dead. He struggled to align his sniper rifle with his one free hand and aim it at the soldier. But using one hand with a two-handed weapon can feel awkward and clunky. Due to being right handed, Fox thought that holding the staff with his left hand would make it easier to aim his rifle. He struggled to aim the sniper rifle at the soldier, but was too stressed out to make a proper aim. But then, all of a sudden, two more enemy soldiers showed up behind the first one, and one of them was a large, hulking gorilla. Fox felt that his goose was cooked, and decided to throw proper, careful aim out the window and try firing rapidly at the soldiers like a maniac. He attempted as close an approximation at the first soldier and fired without thinking. The laser from the rifle and ended up passing through the soldier's shoulder, The first soldier stopped firing and took out a grenade to throw at Fox. Fox felt that he was dead for sure…

A laser shot right through the grenade and it exploded, leaving the first soldier to be nothing but ashes. The second soldier aimed his rifle as where that first laser came from and prepared to fire, but Fox then immediately charged at him, and while the red jewel in his staff glowed with a powerful radiance, swung his staff so hard in the head that his skull became fractured and his brain permanently fractured to the point where it could no longer function and thus killing him. The third soldier, the gorilla, took out a homing launcher, but Fox then ran up to him, jumped in the air and smashed it to pieces with one swing of his staff. He prepared to strike the gorilla with his staff, but the gorilla punched him before he could approach him. Fox was knocked down onto the ground, dropping his staff in the process, landing flat on his back and it hurt when he was sliding on the ground. Before he could get back up again, the gorilla grabbed him by the throat and raised him up in the air. The gorilla sneered at Fox saying, "Our leader, the Great Emperor Andross gave us a future and you took it from us!" He started squeezing his hand around Fox's throat "Now, I'll take your futu…" but then he stumbled and dropped Fox onto the ground, and put his hands on his head, screaming in pain, agony, and torment. When Fox landed on the ground, he coughed. After several coughs, Fox looked to his left and saw Krystal behind a nearby tree, with the same angry look on her face that he has seen on her a couple of times, with her snarls and retracted muzzle baring her razor sharp teeth, only this time, her eyes were ominously glowing cyan with a disturbing aura emanating from them. The gorilla continued screaming in pain and agony until Fox heard what sounded like a meaty explosion. The gorilla's body collapsed to the ground, and when Fox took another look at it, he noticed that the gorilla's head was missing. He looked horrified. He turned back to Krystal and saw that her eyes stopped glowing cyan and returned to normal.

Krystal walked up to a shaky Fox. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Fox was still shocked and horrified to see Krystal having such terrible power, but was happy to see that she was still her. "Yeah, Krystal, I'm okay. Thanks for saving me. If it weren't for you, I would have been dead meat." He picked up his silver staff. "Well, that's all of them."

"I don't sense any more. But we'd better find Sabre and go before reinforcements arrive. Follow me!"

* * *

Sabre crawled wearily in the jungle. He was grateful that the soldiers pursuing him were off his tail, but he was still desperate to get away. He crawled as quickly as he could with his few ounces of strength, but pain began to overwhelm him. He collapsed from exhaustion. He said, "Elysia… Krystal… I'm sorry." He could almost pass out from the pain, but then he heard a woman's voice calling his name. The voice got louder and louder and then Sabre became more and more capable of recognizing it. "Krystal?" He barely lifted his head to see the woman. It _was_ her. It _was_ his sister. And someone was with him.

Krystal crouched down and lifted Sabre's head up, "Sabre, are you all right?"

The male Cerinian weakly moaned, "Krystal… you saved me…"

Fox and Krystal quickly became horrified at the copious wounds covering him. Especially the gigantic tearing at the skin of his forehead. Krystal morbidly and hauntedly asked, "What happened to you?"

Fox activated his wrist-mounted communications device. "Peppy, send me your Arwing. The culprit who shot us down has been taken care of and we have someone who needs help."

"What happened, Fox?"

"I'll explain in just a moment." He pressed a button on his glove. Back on the Great Fox where Peppy was analyzing the map of Sauria, a red light showed up on an area of the globe area. "Can you sense my location?"

"I see it. I'm sending you my Arwing now." Peppy opened up another console on his chair and typed in coordinates. At the Great Fox's docking bay, another Arwing automatically lifted its way out of the docking bay and soared its way downward.

Back on Sauria's Komalia Jungle, Krystal struggled to mend Sabre's wounds. She lifted her hand above his forehead and a cyan aura glowed around it. But then, she thought, if she healed the wounds after they've been infected that would only worsen Sabre's health dramatically. So she instead decided to take a nearby leaf that was originally from a tree and tried to wipe away any dirt from his wound. "It's okay, Sabre. We'll make sure you get patched up. Fox just called for a transport to get you out of this jungle."

Sabre turned his head so that Fox was in his sight. "Is that him?"

Fox walked over to Sabre. "Yep. My name is Fox McCloud and I helped Krystal save you."

"So you're _the_ Fox McCloud." Sabre replied. Fox looked a little worried for a moment. He was nervous that Sabre would be untrustworthy of him. Sabre continued. "There truly is hope for us after all."

Fox felt relieved that Sabre thought well of him, but wanted to know what he meant. "Us?"

"More of our people are still…" But then all of a sudden, Peppy's Arwing landed closeby.

Fox said, "Right on que." He activated the cockpit so that it would open. He said, "Krystal, hop in first. Then I'll pass Sabre to you."

Krystal jumped into the backseat area. Fox lifted Sabre in a similar fashion to a war comrade. "Can you walk?"

"Just barely."

"Hope it's just enough for me to carry you." Fox walked up to the Arwing with Sabre in tow. There wasn't much distance from it, so carrying Sabre wasn't too difficult.

Krystal reached her arms out "It's okay, Sabre. I got you." Fox put Sabre so that Krystal could pull him up. She took him by the torso and attempted to pull him up while Fox attempted to lift him up by the legs. He struggled keeping him steady, but then Krystal lifted Sabre up so that his torso was above the metallic wall for the cockpit and lifted one of his legs to go over the wall and into the ship. She then did the same with his other leg. Once Sabre was in the ship, Krystal settled him down while Fox hopped into the pilot seat. He then closed the cockpit and took off to ThornTail Hollow.

Once the Arwing was miles high above the Komalia Jungle, he set his Arwing to the direction of ThornTail Hollow and then flew straight forward. He then activated his Arwing comm device to Peppy. When Peppy answered, he asked, "So is my Arwing working well for you?"

"Yep. Anyway, the person who shot us down was our old 'friend,' Pigma Dengar. He attempted to steal the SpellStone, but thankfully he failed."

"So where is Pigma now? Don't tell me he got away again!?"

"Wolf is currently punishing him for acting on his own and nearly denying Wolf the satisfaction of finishing me off. Of course, Pigma would prefer that over anything Krystal might have tried on him."

Peppy looked kind of pensive. He picked up right there that Krystal could be very dangerous when made angry, and he intuitively believed that any fate she would have had in mind for Pigma would have been particularly gruesome.

Fox continued, "Anyway, we discovered a Venomian base nearby where you just landed the Arwing and rescued someone who escaped from it. It was Krystal's brother, Sabre."

Peppy was shocked. "But I thought Krystal was the last of her kind! The only one who escaped when Cerinia…"

"Yeah, the rest of us thought so too. But apparently, Venomian soldiers managed to capture a few of them before fleeing Cerinia themselves, and Sabre was one of them. I need you to send this information to General Pepper so that the Cornerian Army could save those Cerinians and blow that base to smithereens."

"I'll get on it. Thanks, Fox." The transmission ended, and Fox kept moving forward to ThornTail Hollow where he could help Sabre recover from his wounds.


	16. Chapter 32

As Fox flew toward ThornTail Hollow, Fox checked his map to see how close he was to his destination. He looked worried. To him, it seemed that they were still quite a few was away. This distressed him. He turned behind him. "How is Sabre holding up, Krystal?"

"Not good. I could only fight off his infections for so long, but if we don't clean his wounds soon, his condition could get worse."

Fox slightly turned up the speed on his Arwing, hoping to get to ThornTail Hollow faster, but hopefully not fast enough to make the ride rough for Sabre. Fortunately for him, he checked his map again and the results seemed to brighten his spirits this time. "We'll be in ThornTail Hollow in a few minutes."

"Good." Krystal continued trying to fend of Sabre's infection, as Fox approached Thorntail Hollow, hoping he and Krystal could help Sabre in time.

* * *

Prince Tricky was lying down on the grass in ThornTail Hollow as the sun was setting. He was starting to get impatient. He knew that Fox and Krystal had a valid reason to leave him behind while they were at CloudRunner Fortress, but going for too long without seeing them again just irritated him. But then, all of a sudden, he heard a very low wooshing noise up in the air. He looked up. He saw what looked like Fox's starship. It was slowly lowering to the ground. It was them! They're back! Tricky was happy!

As soon as the aircraft lowered to the ground, Tricky stepped away, but was still excited that Fox and Krystal were finally back. The Arwing landed, the cockpit opened, and Fox jumped out of the ship to the ground. Tricky cried, "You're back! I missed you so…"

Fox turned back to Krystal, saying, "All right, Krystal, let's bring him here." Krystal lifted up her brother with all her strength and put his body in front of the Arwing. Fox took Sabre by the chest and then lowered him gently to the ground. Fox then said to Krystal, "Good. Now get me the first-aid kit. It's to the right of the pilot seat of the Arwing."

"On it!" She looked to the right of the pilot seat of Fox's Arwing, and found a box of medical supplies. She grabbed it and jumped out of the cockpit to Fox's side.

"Good."

Tricky asked "What's going on here?!"

Fox replied, "I'm sorry, Tricky, but this man needs our help. He's badly wounded and we have to patch him up."

Krystal added, "I know you're excited to see us again, but this is important." She then turned to Fox. "Shall we take him to the upstream side of the river?"

"Sounds like a good idea." The vulpine duo moved Sabre to the waterfall pouring out of the Warpstone's garden. They put Sabre's body from the neck down into the river below with his head beneath the waterfall, washing away all the dirt and grime that may have gotten into the gartanguan wound on his forehead. Fox told Sabre, "This will hurt a little, but we want to make sure you don't get infected, so bear with me."

Sabre nodded. Fox started brushing away at any dirt that may have gotten into the wound on Sabre's forehead. It was slightly painful for Sabre, but nothing too serious. Nothing he couldn't handle. As soon there was no more dirt and grime in that wound, Fox and Krystal moved Sabre's head away from the waterfall and rested it on the shore to the river, opened the First-Aid kit, and put the disinfectant into the wound, and after spreading it around, wrapped a bandage around his forehead. Fox said to Krystal, "Keep watch over him. I have a perfect solution for those burn marks on his chest."

"Okay." Krystal continued to watch over her brother while Fox walked over to Prince Tricky. He took out one of the MoonSeeds that he collected back at Moon Mountain Pass and put it in the dirt.

"Tricky? You mind doing me a little favor?"

Tricky saw the MoonSeed. Fox stepped back and Tricky immediately breathed fire on it. A MoonVine grew out of the seed and then Fox briefly thanked Tricky before grabbing some large leaves from the MoonVine, briefly thanking Tricky, and regrouping with Krystal and Sabre. When he got back to them, he put a MoonVine leaf into the water, and it grew in size slightly and turned pink. Krystal lifted Sabre out of the water for a moment, and Fox put the leaf on one part of his chest. He repeated the process with numerous other leaves and put them on other parts of his chest, then his back, then his arms and legs because he wanted to save up on the bandages in his first-aid kit, especially considering the state the Star Fox team was in right now. WIth Sabre's wounds mended, Fox and Krystal placed him on the land area near the river, and put him so he could lie down and rest.

Sabre felt more relaxed. He opened his eyes slightly. He saw Krystal right before him. He felt overjoyed at what he was seeing. "Krystal… you're alive…"

Krystal smiled, "Sabre. I was afraid I lost you." Tears formed in her eyes. "I'm so happy you're alive."

"Well, if it weren't for you or your friend there, I wouldn't have been for long. Thank you so much." He then turned his head to face Fox. "And I'm grateful for you too, Fox McCloud."

"Uh… You're welcome. But how did you know my name?" asked Fox.

"I heard those Venomian brutes talking about you. I heard them curse your name. I heard them rant about how you stopped them from murdering many innocents in the past, and prevented many slaughterings that they intended to use as a means of demonstrating power. I felt that maybe you could provide a glimmer of hope for us."

"Us?"

"Krystal told you about when our homeworld was destroyed, did she not?"

"Yes. She did."

"Well, apparently, I don't believe she herself knew that there were survivors besides her. She was stressed when she fled Cerinia, after all. But after she escaped, I was captured by those Venomian mongrels before they escaped our crumbling planet."

Krystal started forming tears in her eyes.

Sabre continued, "I was prepared for a warrior's death, but while most of us were killed by those brutes, there were a few of us that they thought they had a use for. So they captured those few of us, including myself and my wife, Elysia, and took us unto their ships, and left the planet before its collapse. They took us to some of their bases and began running experiments on us."

Krystal gasped in horror at what she just heard. To her, that was horrific for two reasons; one, because of the torture that her people went through during those experiments and two, because of the idea of the Venomians using the powers that her people had for evil. She let it sink in for a moment. And then she felt her blood boiling. A seething rage quelled up within her. Hearing what Venomians have been doing to her people including her brother as well as what they would have to gain by doing so skyrocketed her hatred for them long past the breaking point. Being responsible for her homeworld's destruction was already enough of a reason for her to despise Venom to the point where she would start convulsing but now she felt that their detestiblity knew no bounds. If only she were given an opportunity to confront a Venomian soldier. If such an opportunity were to arise, she'd rip them limb from limb.

Fox asked, "What's with the huge injury on your forehead?"

Sabre answered, "The Venom freaks implanted devices into our foreheads that prevented us from reading the thoughts of others and it made our own thoughts unable to be read by others of our kind. With the device in me, I was unable to read the thoughts of others, nor could I send messages to my fellow warriors telepathically. I tore out these implants when I escaped so I could save Elysia when they took her so they could move her to another location. They refused to tell me what they were planning to use her for. But I knew she was in danger. So I escaped and ripped the infernal device from my face and struggled as hard as I can to escape. But I didn't make it far. And then, you two found me. And for that, I couldn't be more grateful."

"Krystal and I would do anything to help those in need."

Krystal then added, "Ever since Fox and I realized that you were in grave danger, I wanted to save you. For years, I thought I lost you forever the night Cerinia was destroyed. But Fox helped me prevent that from truly being the case."

"And for that I am grateful to him. My life was saved by both my sister and the very man that those Venomian scum despise more than anyone else in the universe."

Fox replied, "But you said that device implanted into your forehead blocked your fellow Cerinians' ability to sense your thought patterns. You ripped it out and that was what allowed Krystal and me to find you. You played just as big a role in your salvation as we did."

"You speak so kindly, Fox McCloud. Those Venomian filth destroyed our planet, slaughtered our people, and ran horrific experiments on the ones that they didn't kill. And now my sister has fallen in love with the mortal enemy of those monsters."

Fox and Krystal smiled at Sabre's kind words. Sabere then continued. "Which is why I was wondering if she ever got a little taste of your…"

Krystal then blushed and said, "Uh… he he he… Fox, it's getting dark out. You mind gathering some firewood for tonight."

Fox blushed intensely as well. "Uh… yeah! Great idea, Krystal! I'll be back soon!" And Fox then ran off to get what he could use for making a campfire for the evening.

After Fox left, Krystal then turned to Sabre, saying, "Sorry about that. Normally, I'd be fine with you encouraging me to sleep with a man I'm getting along with, but Fox isn't exactly of a 'free love' culture like the one we used to hail from. I think that his culture prefers to do anything related sex specifically behind closed doors. And that includes talking about sex. So, you mind not trying to pry him into 'doing it' with me? I don't need you trying to rush our relationship and its development. That could scare him out of it."

"Okay. I understand. He must be a benevolent person if you're trusting him as much as you are."

"He is. He fought in wars against the armies of Venom, and has saved countless lives. I have been mistrustful of others since I fled Cerinia and had to break our tradition of not reading others' minds because I needed protection from their dubious intentions. But after I looked into his heart, I found him to be trustworthy."

"Well, if he weren't worthy of your trust, he wouldn't have helped you save me."

"Anyway, he did agree to give me a midriff massage, so that could indicate that our relationship is making quite a bit of progress. But that's as intimate as our relationship has gotten so far, and I don't think it's a good idea to push it further or mention to him that I let some of the men in our tribe touch the more… sensitive parts of my body. It might scare him off."

"Oh. I see. Well, you have always checked other cultures and taught us how to blend into them back home as well. You're always so considerate, Krystal."

"Thank you, Sabre."

The leaves crumbled off Sabre's body. His wounds on his body became healed, but the one on his head still needed the bandage that Fox applied to him, so he kept it on, and he still felt weary.

Krystal was quite happy. She placed her hand above Sabre's forehead and started using her healing magic. "Well, I'm glad to see that you're feeling better."

"And I'm glad that my sacrifice to save you wasn't in vain."

* * *

Fox carried a few logs the size of footballs to the circle of dirt that wasn't being used as a landing pad by Fox for his Arwing. He put them down, then set one up so that it was facing vertically. Tricky sat a few feet from him to his left as Fox got ready to chop up the wood. He then said to Tricky, "Sorry for giving you the short shrift. We just had something urgent that needed tending to." He started chopping the log.

"Who was that injured man you and Krystal took out of the Arwing earlier. He looked kinda similar to her."

Fox chopped the log again after rotating it ninety degrees, then added it to a pile in the center of the dirt mound, saying, "He's her twin brother. His name is Sabre." He took another log and chopped it too.

"I thought Krystal was the last of her kind."

"Apparently she did too. But then we found out that others of her kind, including her brother, Sabre, were captured by the Venomians before they fled Cerinia as it crumbled." replied Fox as he sliced the log again after rotating it ninety degrees. As he added the sliced log to the pile. "And it turned out that Krystal's brother, Sabre, was one of them. And how we found him contributes to part of the reason why it took longer for us to get back from CloudRunner Fortress than we hoped."

"Thank you! I was about to ask you what was taking you and Krystal so long!"

Fox felt that he already chopped enough wood for a fire. He looked up and saw the sun setting. "When Krystal and I were heading back here, we were shot down by a rival pilot named Pigma Dengar. We defeated him, but while we were heading back, Krystal sensed that her brother was in danger. We battled hard to rescue him and then we brought him back here."

"I see…" Tricky was awfully empathetic for a small child.

"Well, it's getting dark out. I set up a fire, so do you mind lighting it?"

"Okay." Tricky breathed fire on the wooden pile that Fox set up. As the sun was ebbing away, Fox walked over to Krystal and Sabre to call them over to the campfire.

* * *

As Fox, Krystal, and Sabre, sat around the campfire after night fell, they each told their stories of how they got to where they are now, while Tricky took a nap on the side of the dirt mound opposite from them. Krystal concluded hers, "When I found out about the distress signal on Sauria, I came to investigate it, and discovered that the Krazoa Spirits were dying."

Sabre asked, "Krazoa Spirits? Just like the ones back on Cerinia?"

"Yes. This world has its own Krazoa Spirits and they are dying just like the ones on Cerinia did. I released the first spirit, but the demon that was there when Cerinia was destroyed came out and attacked me. I escaped, but saw that the planet was beginning to fall apart. Then I found Fox, and he was on a mission to restore the planet, so I decided to work with him."

"So, what were your adventures like before you finally came here?"

"I had to keep my guard up at all times. I broke our tradition and looked into the minds of others just so I wouldn't be taken advantage of, but I kept my power a secret. I felt that those who don't know about my culture would simply ostracize me for my power because, well…" She briefly turned to Fox, asking him, "Tell me, Fox. Would you feel comfortable around someone who could know what you're thinking every waking moment?"

Fox blushed, "Well, to be honest, Krystal, I feel quite comfortable around you but I started off pretty nervous. But now, I'm pretty comfortable with you."

Krystal smiled warmly. She turned back to Sabre, saying, "Even though I've been keeping my guard up, I have still been fighting cruel tyrants and helping those in need."

"Well, I'm glad you still have the same principles that you've always had. Tell me, though, Krystal. Did you use… _that_ power at any point of your journey?"

Krystal replied, "Only two, thankfully."

Fox felt a bit tense. "You mean the one that makes a victim's head explode!?"

Sabre replied, "Yes." She then said to Sabre, "A rebel leader I was trying to help out was about to violate me, so I made his head explode just to protect myself."

Fox then added, "The other time she used it was today, when we were rescuing you. One of the Venom soldiers tried to strangle me to death. If Krystal hadn't used that terrible power, to kill that guard, I would have been dead."

Sabre replied, "Well, at least I'm grateful that she hadn't abused that power, and I'm quite sure that she is too. Did she ever tell you about the first time she used that power?"

Fox then replied, "No, she didn't."

Krystal then replied, "It was when Sabre and I were fighting a wicked sorceress that terrorized our tribe. We infiltrated her lair and killed her minions. Then, we faced… her…"

 _A vicious female leopard with orange skin and fur in a red loincloth with yellow borders and a yellow-and-black pattern in the middle reaching to her shins with a halter top to match formed a fireball in her hand at threw it at Krystal, but Krystal instantly dodged the sorceress's attacks and shot her Fire Blasts at her. The sorceress summoned a shield around her nullifying the effects of Krystal's Fire Blasts, remaining unscathed by them. Krystal stopped firing blasts, after hearing Sabre's war cry as he charged at the sorceress from behind, dropping her barrier in the process, and by the time, she knew that Sabre was charging at her, it was too late. Sabre struck her across the face with his staff. She was knocked back tremendously, but she furiously unleashed a major shockwave knocking both Sabre and Krystal back with tremendous force. Sabre and Krystal came crashing against their walls. The evil leopard sorceress raised her hand in the air and it glowed. Krystal quickly looked behind her, and saw that a nearby statue of a fearsome warrior came to life and quickly grabbed and restrained her before she could even react. As soon as the living statue grabbed Krystal by the wrists, she struggled to break free._

 _Sabre cried out Krystal's name. "Krystal!"_

 _Krystal cried back, "Sabre!"_

 _The wicked sorceress pinned Sabre to the ground. "Now you're mine!" She started stroking Sabre's chest. "Such a nice, well-toned body. So wondrous…" She pulled her arm back, and then grabbed the belt-area of Sabre's loincloth and prepared to rip it apart._

 _Krystal shouted "No!" and her eyes glowed cyan, as she bared and gritted her teeth. The sorceress quickly let go of Sabre's loincloth and put both of her hands on her head. She felt a pain within her skull and she felt it getting worse and worse after each nanosecond. She kept screaming louder and louder until her head exploded, splattering her brains and blood all over the place. Her decapitated body collapsed to the floor, and the living statue that held Krystal crumbled to dust. Krystal rushed over to Sabre. "Sabre! Sabre, are you okay?" She held him upright._

 _Sabre struggled to regain his footing. "Urgh…. I think so… Krystal, what did you..."_

 _Krystal gasped. She knew that she just used a terrible power in order to prevent the sexual abuse that the wicked sorceress intended to put Sabre through. She knew that today she used it for a noble cause, but feared that she would end up using it for a cause that isn't so noble._

"Before then, I never realized that I had such terrible power in my hands. I feared that I could end up abusing such power. But it seemed to me like it only activated when the situation became truly desperate."

Fox replied, "I think that power activates whenever either you or someone you care about is in great danger."

"True, but I'm afraid that committing a small slight against me would trigger this horrible power. I don't want to end up with that being the case."

Fox embraced Krystal. "I'm sure it won't."

Sabre said to Fox, "Thank you for being there for my sister. After what happened to our people, I figured that she would be on her guard, and suspicious of others, but you've shown yourself to be worthy of her trust."

"I promised her that I'll never betray her trust. She's been alone for too long. She found someone to be there for her, and I'll see to it that she'll never be alone again."

Krystal's heart was set aflutter hearing those words coming from Fox, therefore wrapping her arms around him.

Sabre just replied to Fox, "I think you've made some steps to that already. When she realized that I was alive, you helped her save me. My torment would have been insufferable if you two hadn't saved me."

Krystal then said to Sabre, "I'm just grateful that you're alive."

"And I am that you are too."

Krystal smiled. Then she and Fox moved slightly apart from each other. She gave him a flirtatious smile. "So, Fox, how about that midriff massage?"

Fox blushed intensely. "Uh… Sabre's here and I'm not sure if he would…"

Sabre then stepped in, saying, "It's okay, Fox. Krystal often invited the men of our tribe to caress her body."

Fox was kind of puzzled. "She… did?..."

"Yep. She always loved it when our men touched her beautiful body. And she seems eager for you to touch her as well."

Krystal continued flirting with Fox. "So, how about it? You up for it?"

Fox still blushed but decided to go along with it. "Okay." He sat on the log opposite the one Sabre sat at with Krystal sitting on her lap not long afterwards. Fox felt a huge surge of arousal, and consequently embarrassment, from having a sexually attractive, skimpily dressed, and flirtatious young woman being in very close contact with him. He took a deep breath, let it out, and began putting his hand on Krystal's tummy and stroking it gently and lovingly. She liked it and even said, "How would you like to massage my legs, too?" Fox then put his other hand on the side of Krystal's thigh and caressed it too. Krystal said, "Oh, yes. This feels good."

"Indeed it does, but I find it kind of weird that a woman would outright ask me to touch her like this. I mean I enjoy this, but this isn't something I would think would happen."

"Well, it did, so I hope you consider yourself fortunate."

"Well, you are a great woman, so why not." The way Krystal's skin felt beneath Fox's fingers felt so good. Her skin had such a smooth texture that made it tantalizing for him to stroke his fingers across. He kept moving his fingers across Krystal's beautiful belly in such a gentle and majestic manner, much to her delight. She enjoyed the feel of Fox's fingertips as they glided all over her tummy. She loved the way Fox touched her thighs too, as it triggered a lustful sensation within her, and while she didn't think Fox thought he was ready to start touching her private parts, she could already feel herself wanting to orgasm. Feeling Fox touching and stroking her thighs made her anticipate the day he would end up feeling her loins but thought that asking him to do so would creep him out, so she refrained from it. Fox started putting his finger into Krystal's belly button and started twirling it around.

Krystal saw what Fox was doing with her navel and gave him a flirtatious smile. "I hope that qualifies as potential foreshadowing…"

Fox blushed. "Erm… uh…. Well, it probably might…" Fox twirled his finger around as it stayed in her belly-button and he and Krystal enjoyed the belly-button play. Krystal can't help but feel lustful feeling Fox's finger in her navel. She couldn't help but fantasize about engaging in sexual pleasure with him. And Fox felt a bit of anticipation for such a moment as well, but he felt that their relationship hasn't gotten strong enough yet. Even so, with Krystal allowing him to touch her like this, he felt that it would only be a matter of time. But he felt this would be a good opportunity to ask Krystla and Sabre about their life back home. He asked, "So, what kinds of adventures did you two go on back on Cerinia?"

Sabre replied, "Krystal and I went on all sorts. Exploring the jungle, protecting small villages, finding relics, rescuing children, all sorts of things."

Krystal added, "We even killed many monsters while we were exploring the jungle like flesh-eating plants and giant spiders. Sometimes we even competed to see who killed more monsters."

Fox then switched hands, putting the hand that was on Krystal's thigh on her midriff and the one on her midriff on her other thigh. She lifted her leg up just slightly, and then Fox caressed the underside of her thigh. Fox asked, "So, Sabre, how did you and Elysia first meet?"

Sabre answered Fox. "It was when Krystal and I rescued her from a ruthless and sadistic warlord named Kaijira."

Krystal added, "Elysia was once the princess of the Nemeria tribe, but Kaijira invaded the Nemeria and captured all of their women, including their princess, Elysia, and made them their slaves." Fox's fondling of Krystal's body started slowing down to a crawl. "Kaijira's henchmen 'owned' the common women of the tribe, while Elysia was made 'property' of Kaijira himself. They used them as tools to satisfy their… carnal desires" Fox then moved his hands away from Krystal's body. "Seeing them treat their women as… Fox, why are you… Oh. Right. Not an appropriate story for me to tell while you're doing… that. Let's cut to the happy ending."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if I should keep…"

"Fondling me? No, it's okay. Keep at it."

"But you said that this warlord guy…"

Sabre said, "Don't worry about it. You're nothing like Kaijira. My sister's consent matters to you. So, go ahead. We'll skip the part where we save the day."

Fox kept on caressing Krystal's legs and belly. Krystal then continued, "Anyway, Sabre and I battled and defeated Kaijira and his soldiers and freed the women that his tribe captured. Alysia became Sabre's wife of her own free will."

Sabre replied, "And ever since then, I have been trying to help her through her emotional struggles, but after everything those Venomian scum have been doing, I think I may have to start over. Krystal? Fox? I need the two of you to save her for me. I'm too weak to do it myself. The experiments that have been run on me back in the Venomian base I escaped from took a severe physical and mental toll on me. Even with your help, I still haven't recovered, and much of my Krazoa Energy has been drained, rendering my power useless. That's why I didn't ask you for my staff back. And with too little Krazoa energy, I can't recover quickly enough. So, I'll let you hold onto my Krazoa staff a bit longer."

Fox started rubbing Krystal's shoulders. "Thanks, Sabre, but won't you want your staff back eventually?"

Sabre replied, "I will, but now I am in no condition to use it. Without the Krazoa energy to power it, it's as effective as a twig."

"But I don't have Krazoa energy and I've been using the powers of the staff quite well."

"All forms of life have Krazoa energy. It's just that very few species in the universe possess the ability to channel that energy for usage without a powerful Krazoa weapon, such as our staffs. You needed a staff such as ours to use your Krazoa energy, but because you don't have natural abilities that use that energy like we do, the spells you cast with my staff are less powerful than when I use it. Since I am nearly depleted, I can't use my staff and I think it would be better off in your hands for now. All I want right now is a safe place to..."

But then, all of a sudden, an Arwing, just like the one Fox flew around in, swooped into view and landed close by. Fox blushed, nervous, afraid that his friends would see him as a lecherous pervert. When the Arwing landed, Slippy stepped out of it, and saw Fox having his hands on Krystal's body, Krystal immediately before Slippy could even attempt to call Fox out on molesting her, said, "It's okay, Slippy. He has my consent."

Slippy felt a bit of relief that Fox wasn't sexually harassing her. He walked up to Sabre. Fox said to Krystal, "Thanks for sticking up for me."

"You're welcome, Fox." replied Krystal.

"But, you mind getting off my lap for a moment? I need to help Slippy put Sabre into his Arwing."

Krystal then got off Fox's lap and then Fox walked up to Slippy and Sabre. Slippy said to Fox, "I got your message, Fox. You're right. Sabre's hurt badly. We'd better take him to the Great Fox so he could recover."

Sabre was on-edge towards Slippy. Fox said to him, "It's okay, Sabre. He's with me. He helped me fight the Venomian army in the Lylat wars." Sabre eased up a bit. Fox continued, "We are the Star Fox team. We go around the galaxy fighting for justice and protecting the innocent. We're just like you." He then turned to Slippy and gave him the device that Sabre tore out from his forehead. "Slippy, I need you to analyze this device that the Venomians implanted into his forehead." Slippy took the device and put it in his pocket.

Sabre got up. Slippy activated the steps to his Arwing and Sabre walked up them while Fox helped to keep him steady, and Sabre slipped in behind the seat of the Arwing. He said to Fox, "I am grateful to you for taking good care of my twin sister. But promise me that you two will save my wife and all the other captives back at that base."

Fox replied, "I've already taken steps to ensure their safety. As for Elysia, Krystal and I will get her back. We promise."

Slippy hopped into the pilot seat of the Arwing. "Thanks for letting me know that you found a man who needs medical attention. We'll send him to our infirmary so he could make a recovery."

"Okay. Just send me an update when he's feeling better."

"We'll do what we can."

"And did Peppy receive my message about that Venomian base?"

"Yep. He's contacting General Pepper and letting him know about the base and its captives as we speak. By tomorrow, Pepper's going to send a rescue platton to take down that base and save the other Cerinians in it. He'll give us a call when it happens. See ya!" Slippy then closed the cockpit of his Arwing and took off, returning to the Great Fox.

Krystal walked up to Fox and asked him, "Do you think Sabre's going to be okay?"

"Yes. He's a strong-willed and resilient warrior just like you."

Krystal smiled. "Well then, How would you like to touch me some more?"

"That would be nice,but aren't you worried about Elysia?"

"I am, but letting that worry get to me isn't going to be good for me. So how about it?"

"Well, okay." Fox and Krystal lay down their completely unzipped sleeping bag and sat down on top of it, while Fox continued stroking Krystal's legs and midriff, much to her delight. "You know, Krystal, that brother of yours is a good man. Always fighting to help those in need, protective of his friends and family, the two of you do exactly what being a warrior of the Crimson Sun was all about."

"Thank you so much for helping me rescue him, Fox. And thank you for making sure that my fellow Cerinians would be rescued as well. I haven't been in a mood this good in a long time."

"You're quite welcome, Krystal." Fox then put his hands off Krystal. "But we have a SpellStone to return tomorrow. We'd better get some rest before we head off to the Ocean Force Point Temple. Good night." He lowered his body down on his half of the sleeping bag before falling asleep.

"Good night," replied Krystal. She lowered herself on her half as well. She was happy that her brother was safe, and that there were survivors of Cerinia just like her, and she enjoyed the midriff and leg massages that Fox gave her. But then she started to worry about what kinds of treatment Sabre and the others were going through back in that Venomian base. She started to think that the experiments run on them qualified as absolute torture. The thought of what those experimentations were like terrified her, as did the uncertainty of Elysia's fate. And with one of those mind-blocking devices implanted into her, Elysia couldn't telepathically call for help to Fox and Krystal. Struggling not to worry to much, Krystal tried to fall asleep.


End file.
